MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang remains unfazed over the possible filing of an impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte as the 18th Congress is set to open on July 22.
Communications Secretary Martin Andanar dismissed the threats of impeachment against the President after a fisherfolk group said it would file impeachment complaint against Duterte for allowing China to fish in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said Duterte committed treason, and betrayed public trust.
“Every administration naman ginagawa ng mga militante iyan, hindi na bago iyan at kung anuman iyong mga impeachment complaint na kanilang isusumite diyan sa Kongreso, iyan naman ay haharapin din at pag-aaralan din ng mga Congressman,” Andanar said in an interview over GMA’s Unang Hirit on Friday.
“I’m pretty certain that with the super majority ay hindi makakalusot iyan,” he added.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo earlier said an impeachment complaint against Duterte won’t flourish in Congress, citing it is a numbers game and the President is banking on his allies in Congress.
READ: It’s a numbers game: Palace says Duterte confident impeach raps won’t flourish
“How can a President be scared of an impeachment. An impeachment is a numbers game. We have a supermajority in Congress. It will not even pass the Committee on Justice,” Panelo said.
Duterte has threatened to jail those who would file an impeachment case against him over his alleged failure to protect the country’s maritime rights in the West Philippine Sea.
READ: Duterte on impeachment proponents: I’ll jail them all
Panelo later clarified that the President’s remarks were just an “expression of disgust.”
READ: Palace: Threat to jail impeachment proponents an expression of disgust
In 2017, an attempt to impeach Duterte over the thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings in his brutal war on drugs and his alleged subservience to China did not prosper. /muf