The lawyer for a whistleblower who accused the opposition of being behind a series of online videos discrediting the President and his family said Thursday he would file an impeachment complaint against Vice President Leni Robredo if she is indicted on sedition and inciting to sedition charges.
Larry Gadon, lawyer of Peter Joemel Advincula alias “Bikoy,” who has accused Robredo, other opposition leaders and members of the clergy of planning a campaign to destabilize and oust President Rodrigo Duterte, said he would initiate an impeachment complaint against the vice president if the Justice department finds probable cause to indict her.
“That is one of the direction we may take. If Mrs. Robredo is indicted then that would be the next step—the impeachment proceedings against her. That’s the plan, but that’s my plan only. OSG [The Office of the Solicitor General] is not involved,” Gadon, a known Duterte supporter, said in an interview the with ABS-CBN news channel ANC.
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Gadon denied that the administration is behind the charges against Robredo and other opposition leaders.
Gadon, who filed the impeachment complaint that eventually paved the way for the ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, also denied that he was working for the Duterte administration.
The Philippine National Police has used Advincula’s sworn affidavit to file charges of sedition, cyber libel, libel, estafa, harboring a criminal and obstruction of justice against Robredo, opposition Senators Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros, former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, and several other members of the opposition.
Advincula said he is the hooded figure “Bikoy” in the “Totoong Narco-list” viral videos that linked President Rodrigo Duterte’s family and allies to the narcotics trade.
After his arrest on a separate case of estafa, Advincula said he was paid to appear in the videos, allegedly masterminded by opposition members who wanted to remove the President to pave the way for Robredo.
Gadon said his client has a lot of evidence including e-mails and text messages between Advincula and the respondents to prove his allegations.
The Robredo camp on Thursday said the sedition case filed against her was politically motivated harassment.
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Barry Gutierrez, Robredo’s spokesman, challenged Gadon’s plan to file an impeachment rap against the vice president should she be indicted for sedition.
“This is a clear indicator of what their agenda [is]. This criminal case [filed against her] is no ordinary case. It is based on an orderly investigation. It is clearly politically motivated,” he said.
He also slammed the Office of the Solicitor General for allowing two of its employees to draft the sedition raps against the vice president, opposition lawmakers, bishops and other personalities when the PNP had its own pool of lawyers.
PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group anchored its complaints against Robredo and the other respondents on the testimony of Advincula.
“Even if the OSG would say that such could be allowed legally since there is no express prohibition, I think it still has to explain why the OSG has chosen to participate in this particular case and even has singled out from other cases,” he added.
According to Gutierrez, Robredo still does not understand why she is accused of sedition.
“We [still] don’t know any of the specifics as to how and why the vice president was included in the referral of the PNP,” he said.
The vice president, he added, has not yet received a copy of the charges.
The Palace on Thursday distanced itself from the impeachment bid.
“He’s on his own. That’s his business,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said of Gadon. “Let him be. Every citizen has the right to do anything legal under the Constitution.”
Gadon, who lost in his senatorial bid last May elections, also revealed his plan to boot Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio from the Supreme Court for his supposed intrusion into Duterte’s foreign relations policies.
“We weren’t involved. We will just watch in amusement,” Panelo said of Gadon’s plans.
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