Palace: Impeachment bid vs Duterte must be guided by public interest
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Wednesday said that any move by the House of Representatives to pursue an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte should be guided by public interest and not by the benefit of a few.
Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro made the statement amid talks of a possible impeachment complaint against Duterte once the one-year ban imposed by the Supreme Court expires in February.
READ: Marcos wants Sara Duterte impeach case handled like flood mess probe
“Kung anuman po ang tinatrabaho o ginagawa po sa House of Representatives, hindi po iyan saklaw ng ating Pangulo. At maliwanag naman din po ang sinabi ng Pangulo, kung may magkakaroon man po ng impeachment complaint o pagsasampa ng impeachment complaint laban sa Bise Presidente, ito ay dapat na ituring na parang flood control mess, na kung kinakailangang imbestigahan nang malaliman at dapat may managot, dapat na managot,” Castro said at a briefing, when asked for response to remarks from some lawmakers that the impeachment must have a go signal from the Palace to prosper.
(Whatever is being worked on or done at the House of Representatives is not within the jurisdiction of our President. And the President’s statement is also clear: if there should be an impeachment complaint or the filing of an impeachment complaint against the Vice President, it should be treated like the flood control mess—that if a thorough investigation is necessary and there are people who must be held accountable, then they should indeed be held accountable.)
“Alam po nating lahat na ang mga mambabatas ay binoto dahil sila po ay may puso, may talino at may konsensiya. Alam nila ang tama at mali, alam nila na ang kanilang gagawing trabaho ay para sa taumbayan, hindi para sa iilan lamang. So sila na po, nasa pagdidesisyon po nila iyan kung magkakaroon po nang pagsasampa ng impeachment complaint at kung ano po ang kanilang gagawing pagresolba patungkol diyan.”
(We all know that legislators were elected because they have heart, intelligence, and conscience. They know what is right and what is wrong, and they know that the work they do is for the people, not just for a few. So it is now up to them—it is their decision whether an impeachment complaint will be filed and how they will resolve the matter.)
Meanwhile, Castro criticized Rep. Toby Tiangco’s statement that he would not sign any impeachment complaint against Duterte because no “big fish” has been pinned down yet in relation to the flood control mess.
“Kung iyon ang kaniyang opinyon, hindi natin puwedeng pigilan kung anuman ang opinyon ni Congressman Toby Tiangco. Kung dati nga po ay hindi siya pumirma sa nasabing impeachment complaint dahil divisive o dahil magiging cause ng pagkakahati-hati at ngayon naman po ay iba na ang kanyang dahilan, ito daw ay dahil sa kung walang mapapakulong na big fish,” Castro said.
The Palace official stressed that the two issues should not be linked.
In a briefing on Monday, Castro said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. wants any impeachment complaint against his former Uniteam partner to be handled with the same level of thoroughness as the investigation into anomalous flood control projects.
“Last week, we were able to speak directly with the President and asked him about this. His only response to me was that the way anomalous flood control projects are handled and investigated should be the same way the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara is pursued or investigated,” Castro said, speaking Filipino.
Asked to elaborate, she explained that the statement meant that accountability should be applied equally.
“It means that those who should be held accountable must be held accountable. This is the same principle that applies to anomalous flood control projects: if there are issues and people involved, they must answer for them. The same treatment should apply to an impeachment complaint, if one is filed against the Vice President,” she said.
Marcos’ remarks mark a shift from his earlier statements opposing any impeachment complaint against Duterte.
“This is not important. This does not make any difference to even one single Filipino life, so why waste time on this?” Marcos told reporters in an ambush interview in Lucena City in November 2024.
“What will happen if somebody files an impeachment? It will tie down the House, it will tie down the Senate. It will just take up all our time — for what? For nothing. None of this will help improve a single Filipino life. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a storm in a teacup,” he added then. /gsg
