No evidence yet to impeach Duterte, Robredo – solon

By: Marc Jayson Cayabyab - 8 years ago

Kabayan Rep. Harry Roque on Monday said there is no substantial evidence yet for any impeachment proceedings to fly against President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo.

In a statement on Monday, Roque urged his colleagues to reflect over the Lenten break and not make Congress go through the circus of the impeachment trial.

He also made a plea to Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano to withdraw his impeachment complaint against Duterte.

READ: 1st impeachment complaint filed vs Duterte for killings, graft

Roque said there is no evidence to impeach Duterte over the extrajudicial killings of his drug war because there is still a need for a case buildup.

While the numbers are there for Robredo to be impeached by the lower House, Roque said that the Vice President’s criticisms of the administration’s drug war in a video to the United Nations are not enough to constitute the impeachable offense of betrayal of public trust.

“The administration has the numbers to impeach Vice President Robredo. But having said this, I would also like to point out that the words of the Vice President are insufficient by themselves to prove betrayal of public trust,” Roque said.

Roque said the complainants must have solid evidence to prove Robredo wanted Duterte ousted by backing Magdalo’s impeachment complaint against the Chief Executive.

READ: Alvarez eyes impeachment rap vs Robredo this time

It was Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, President Duterte’s close ally, who first thought of an impeachment complaint against Robredo just days after the filing of the first ouster try against the chief executive.

Marcos loyalists Oliver Lozano and Melchor Chavez on Monday asked Alvarez to endorse their impeachment complaint against Robredo for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution.

READ: 2 Marcos loyalists seek endorsement of impeachment rap vs Robredo

“I would like to appeal to the Speaker that while the majority has the numbers to impeach the Vice President Robredo in the House, the House of Representatives should also ensure conviction in the Senate to safeguard integrity and reputation of the House, and this, too, entails case building,” Roque said.

Roque also said an impeachment trial would derail the passage of other pertinent bills in Congress.

Alejano last Thursday filed the complaint against the President for the latter’s alleged hand in the vigilante killings by the Davao Death Squad and the spate of extrajudicial killings at the height of his administration’s war on drugs, as well as his alleged P2.2 billion hidden wealth.

Alvarez then tagged Robredo as being behind the impeachment move against Duterte, noting that the filing of Magdalo’s impeachment complaint coincided with the Vice President’s message to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs critical of the government’s narcotics war.

Alvarez said Robredo may be impeached for betrayal of public trust for putting the country in a bad light before the international community.

“Ang pananaw ko dito, may betrayal of public trust… Kung ikaw, ipagpapalagay nating totoo ang pagkakahalal, sisiraan mo ang bayan sa international community nang walang pakundangan, ano ang magiging epekto nun? Economically, may impact po yun,” Alvarez said.

(My view here is there is betrayal of public trust.. If we assume that her election in office was legitimate and true, and then you put the country in a bad light before the international community, what would be the effect of that? Economically, there will be an impact.)

Alvarez also took a hit at the legitimacy of Vice President Robredo, who faces an election protest filed by former senator Bongbong Marcos after the latter lost by a margin of 200,000 votes. Bongbong is the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

In her six-minute video to the 60th United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs annual meeting in Vienna, Robredo criticized the administration’s drug war and exposed the police “palit ulo” scheme of allegedly rounding up the kin of drug suspects if the latter were missing.