FILE PHOTO: Former Sen. Leila De Lima faces her accuser, former President Rodrigo Duterte, during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Subcommittee on the Philippine War on Illegal Drugs motu proprio investigation, on Monday, October 28, 2024. (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s advice to the House of Representatives about not pushing through with impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte was not considered by the filers, former senator Leila de Lima said on Monday.
In an interview at the Batasang Pambansa complex, de Lima stressed that any individual can file an impeachment complaint against the country’s top officials as long as it is endorsed by a sitting lawmaker.
“Under the Constitution, a citizen can actually file an impeachment (complainant) with a member of the House of Representatives as an endorser. So, we are not looking at these things, because we do not want people to perceive us as favoring any of the political protagonists now,” de Lima said when asked about Marcos’ advice.
“This is really the decision of the individuals who filed (the complaint) coming from various groups. We do not want to be part of any of their moves, they in government now, including the President, we cannot be affected in our desire to really make the Vice President accountable, because that is, in fact, recognized by the Constitution, the law has to prevail,” she added.
Akbayan party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña, the lawmaker who endorsed the complaint, also said that progressive groups would not be directed on how to extract accountability from Duterte.
“Akbayan will endorse this impeachment complaint, despite the news last week where Malacañang and some political leaders said that the complaints should not push through. Let us clarify: the loyalty of our allies in the civil society leaders is with the people,” Cendeña said.
“Progressive forces cannot be dictated on how they have to hold Vice President Sara Duterte accountable […] On this day, we are here in the House of Representatives bravely supporting the petition of citizens because we believe this is a responsibility of our institution. They have to give this complaint a fair chance and a fair day in court,” he added.
De Lima and Cendeña’s statements came after Marcos, in an ambush interview last Friday, confirmed that he asked lawmakers not to proceed with an impeachment complaint against Duterte, as it is not important and would not do anything to improve people’s lives.
Marcos also admitted that a message circulating over social media, making the same call against Duterte’s possible impeachment, came from him. In the message, the Chief Executive said “Sara” is not important, and that impeachment complaints would only distract the government from its task.
READ: Marcos says he ordered impeachment moves vs VP Sara Duterte stopped
Numbers game
While impeachment proceedings ultimately lead to a numbers game — which means any complaint would have to get a one-thirds vote of all House members — Cendaña is confident that their bid to get Duterte removed from office will eventually get support.
“I believe that if there is a will, there is a way. And that way is to hold accountable those who abuse their power and those who steal from the people,” Cendaña said.
“We are duty bound in this House of Representatives to give this complaint a fair day […] We believe that there are strong merits in our impeachment complaint. And we believe that our colleagues here in Congress, once they see that we have a strong complaint, a strong case, they will support it,” he added.
Earlier, Cendaña and de Lima accompanied civil society representatives who filed the complaint before the office of House Secretary General Reginald Velasco.
In the same briefing, de Lima explained that among the articles of impeachment cited were Duterte’s alleged confidential fund (CF) misuse, threats to ranking government officials, and her supposed involvement in extrajudicial killings (EJKs) when she was Davao City.
READ: Sara Duterte’s kill remark vs Marcos is ‘active threat’ – Palace
The CF issues that de Lima was referring to are the discoveries made by the House committee on good government and public accountability, like the admission from OVP and DepEd’s special disbursing officers that they left the disbursement of secret funds to security officers.
READ: Solon: SDO’s move to give up fund release role may lead to malversation
Duterte’s threats, meanwhile, refer to the Vice President’s rants in an online press briefing last November 23 where she said that she talked to someone about killing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, in case she gets assassinated.