Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, who figured in two coup attempts
against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2003 and 2007, is training his sights this time on
President Rodrigo Duterte by filing his impeachment complaint at the Office of the Secretary General. (Photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Vice President Leni Robredo was not behind the impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte.
Rep. Gary Alejano himself made the denial on Friday, a day after he filed the complaint.
He tagged as “preposterous” the allegation made by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez that he filed his complaint to pave the way for Robredo to become president.
In a text message to Inquirer.net, the former Marine captain said: “I categorically deny that VP Leni or any other group is behind my filing of impeachment complaint.”
READ: Speaker: ‘Worried’ Robredo involved in move to impeach Duterte
Alejano, who figured in the Oakwood mutiny in 2003 and Manila Peninsula siege in 2007, said: “To say that VP Leni is behind my filing the impeachment against Duterte is just simply preposterous.”
Alejano added that the Speaker would be free to file an impeachment complaint against Robredo.
Earlier, Alvarez said me might file the complaint against the Vice President for betrayal of public trust, following her video message to the United Nations Commission on Narcotics criticizing the administration’s war on drugs that has claimed over 8,000 lives.
“He may do that if he wants,” Alejano said.
READ: Alvarez eyes impeachment rap vs Robredo this time
Alejano also refuted Malacañang’s claim that it seemed too much of a “coincidence” that his filing of an impeachment complaint followed Robredo’s sending of the video to the UN.
READ: Palace links Robredo to impeachment try vs Duterte
“They are getting paranoid,” Alejano said of Palace officials. “Magaling maghanap ng dahilan ang administrasyong ito para lamang i-deflect ang issues laban kay Duterte.”
(“This administration is good at finding excuses to deflect the issues against Duterte.”)
Alejano filed the impeachment complaint against Duterte for his alleged hand in the vigilante killings by the Davao Death Squad, the spate of extrajudicial killings at the height of his war on drugs, and his alleged P2.2 billion in hidden wealth.
READ: 1st impeachment complaint filed vs Duterte for killings, graft
In her six-minute video, Robredo also exposed the alleged “palit-ulo” (swapping heads) scheme, under which poor families were rounded up by the police who would then demand that relatives be taken in exchange for accused drug personalities authorities couldn’t locate.
Robredo’s was scheduled to be shown at the 60th Session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which runs from March 13 to 17, in Vienna, Austria.
Liberal Party lawmakers also scoffed at Malacanang’s claim that Robredo was being used as a political tool to destabilize the government, with her video message coming on the heels of Alejano’s impeachment complaint.
“Even before the Vice President went to the United Nations, the country was already in a bad light,” Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Baguilat Jr. told the Inquirer. “It didn’t take Leni-speak for UN Secretary-General, Special Rapporteur to say there’s a human rights crisis in the Philippines.”
Baguilat added that Robredo’s criticism of the administration could not be considered “an impeachable offense.”
Quezon City Rep. Jose Christopher “Kit” Belmonte added that Robredo’s video was not meant to destabilize the administration.
“Dissent and expressing your views on issues does not mean destabilization,” Belmonte said. “It’s an essential part of democracy.”
He said Alvarez might have been “misinformed” when he tagged Robredo as the one behind the impeachment complaint.
“Walang kinalaman ang Liberal Party, lalo na si VP Leni sa impeachment complaint,” Belmonte said. “Ang mga so-called destabilization plots ay puro guni-guni lang at gawa-gawang kwento.”
(“he Liberal Party, most especially VP Leni, has nothing to do with the impeachment complaint. These so-called destabilization plots are figments of the imagination and are all made-up stories.”) /atm
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