Robredo ready for charges, impeachment

Vice President Leni Robredo. INQUIRER file photo

Vice President Leni Robredo is prepared to face the sedition charge filed against her, even as her camp slammed the criminal raps as mere political harassment.

Lawyer Barry Gutierrez, Robredo’s spokesperson, said on Thursday that her office has yet to receive official communication from the Department of Justice, but that her legal team is ready to study and prepare an appropriate response once the subpoena and affidavit are sent to her office.

He did not disclose, however, the members of Robredo’s legal team.

Gutierrez dismissed the case as politically motivated even without knowledge of the specifics in the case filed by the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).

“The Vice President is ready to face whatever trumped-up charges will be filed against her,” he told reporters in a press briefing.

“But this is really, as we have been saying from the start, politically motivated … and calculated to harass the Vice President.”

On July 18, the PNP-CIDG filed sedition raps against Robredo and several opposition members and Church leaders, accusing them of inciting to sedition.

The case stemmed from the affidavit of principal witness, Peter Joemel Advincula, a formerly detained crime suspect who came out supposedly as the hooded “Bikoy” from the six-part video series, “Ang Totoong Narcolist” that linked President Duterte, his family and his associates to the illegal drug trade.

On Thursday, Larry Gadon, who serves as Advincula’s counsel, bared his supposed plan to file impeachment raps against Robredo, should the criminal case prosper in court.

“If Madam Leni Robredo gets indicted in the sedition or inciting to sedition charges, it may be used as a ground for filing an impeachment complaint against her even if there is no conviction yet,” Gadon said.

Gadon also served as complainant in the impeachment complaint filed against former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno in 2017.

Hands off

The Palace said it would keep its hands off Gadon’s attempt to remove Robredo from office, adding that it was not remotely interested in looking at his draft impeachment complaint.

“It’s up to him if he wants to do it. Let him be,” said presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Thursday.

He added: “We’re out of that. We’ll just watch in amusement. In other words, we will not interfere. Let them do their thing. If they want, they can do anything not illegal.

“We never meddled. The Palace never interferes, intrudes, in the domain of other branches.

“Every citizen has the right to do anything legal under the Constitution. But whether it will succeed or not …”