Ouster plot vs Duterte doomed–Robredo

ANY ATTEMPT to oust President Duterte would most likely fail, Vice President Leni Robredo said on Friday in response to allegations that the Liberal Party (LP), to which she belongs, planned to impeach the President.
“I hope that no impeachment would happen, and I do not think it would prosper,” Robredo told reporters at the Housing and Urban Development and Coordinating Council (HUDCC) office in Makati City.

The impeachment of Mr. Duterte would be a complicated process that would divide the nation, she said, adding that leaders should instead “channel our energies to the many responsibilities we have [as public servants].”

The Vice President said she was offended by the accusation of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano during the hearing of the Senate justice committee that the LP’s oust-Duterte plan was aimed to eventually catapult her to presidency.

“It was very unfair…We (the Liberal Party members) have not yet even talked. I did not even know that there would be a witness,” Robredo said, referring to Edgar Matobato, a self-confessed member of the Davao Death Squad which was allegedly created by Mr. Duterte, then mayor of Davao City.

Robredo denied that her party, the ruling party before the Mr. Duterte of the PDP-Laban party won the elections, was planning to wrest back power.

Robredo said she was afraid the “very good” working relationship of her and the President would be compromised because of Cayetano’s allegation.

She said Mr. Duterte has provided all the needs of HUDCC, which she currently chairs, and she would like to support him also in return. “Every chance I get, I tell him that he can count on my support, that if he needs anything done, he should not hesitate to ask me.”

Despite political differences, Robredo said it was the duty of every citizen to support the President.

“When we support, it does not mean that we become blind followers. If we have differences, it does not mean that we stop supporting Mr. Duterte. For me, the success of the Duterte administration is the success of our nation,” she added.

At the same time, Sen. Francis Pangilinan reiterated yesterday that the LP had nothing to do with alleged plans to overthrow President Duterte, explaining that criticism against his drug war did not mean an ouster plot was in the offing.

This after the issue was raised again during Thursday’s Senate inquiry on the spate of drug-related deaths under the Duterte administration, with the President’s close ally and defeated running mate Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano suspecting that the investigation could be “LP’s plan to take back Malacañang.”

“We deny being involved in any ouster effort. This accusation is unfounded and baseless,” said Pangilinan in a text message yesterday.

At a Senate hearing on Thursday, Cayetano, a Nacionalista Party member who was Mr. Duterte’s running mate in the elections, accused Sen. Leila de Lima and the LP of trying to destroy the President’s reputation as part of a “plan B of the Liberal Party to take back Malacañang.” With a report by Tarra Quismundo