Robredo warned on Duterte dinner invite

Sen. Antonio Trillanes INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Don’t be deceived by President Duterte again.

This was the advice Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV gave on Sunday to Vice President Leni Robredo following the Chief Executive’s dinner invitation to her.

The advice was also for “people monitoring what’s happening that they should be well aware of these tricks of deception constantly being used by (Mr.) Duterte and his lieutenants,” according to Trillanes.

“Assuming she accepts the invitation, she should go to that dinner with eyes wide open,” Trillanes said in a phone interview.

‘It’s a trap’

In a statement, the senator warned Robredo “not (to) fall for that trap again” meant to “disarm and politically neutralize her at this time that (Mr.) Duterte is facing the biggest political storm yet of his term as President.”

The President is not only facing an impeachment complaint in the House of Representatives but also an impending case before the International Criminal Court regarding his alleged involvement in the Davao Death Squad and extrajudicial killings of drug suspects, Trillanes said.

He said Mr. Duterte had used this strategy before with Robredo when he belatedly offered her a Cabinet post under public pressure.

Robredo later resigned as housing secretary after she was barred from attending Cabinet meetings.

Respect for mandate

As for the President’s call for political truce and respect for his mandate, Trillanes said: “We respect the electoral mandate of President Duterte but that does not exempt him from being accountable for the crimes he has committed.”

“You are not above the law,” he told the President.

Mr. Duterte invited Robredo to dinner after he had asked his allies to stop any impeachment bid against her, and yet accused her of being eager to replace him at the same time.

Aguirre defiant

On Friday night, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said he was defying Mr. Duterte’s order to his political allies to jettison all efforts to unseat Robredo, who has denied wrongdoing.

Aguirre, who was able to keep the justice portfolio despite being embroiled in a P50-million bribery scandal, belittled the President’s call as he opted to support instead House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez’s initiative to impeach Robredo.

Like in his previous conflicting statements, Mr. Duterte told the Filipino community during his visit in Bangkok last week that the Vice President was itching to replace him, just a few hours before instructing his supporters to stop any attempt to oust her from office.

“I am going to support (the impeachment of Robredo) … . I know the Speaker is pushing for it,” Aguirre told reporters after attending a gathering of lawyers in Pasay City.

“It’s just the President’s personal opinion. But it will be the Congress’ call, not the President’s call,” he added.

The justice secretary said he believed there was a basis in moving for the impeachment of Robredo, who surmised that her bitter political rival, former Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., was behind the moves to impeach her.

Impeachment complaint

Oliver Lozano, a longtime Marcos loyalist and lawyer, brought the first impeachment complaint against the widow of the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, accusing her of culpable violation of the Constitution, acts of injustice and betrayal of public trust for sending a video message to the UN critical of the administration.

Interestingly, Aguirre was recently seen attending a public event with Marcos, the son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos who lost to Robredo in the May 2016 balloting.

“What she did was to embarrass the Philippines. So I’m sure that aside from damaging the image of the Philippines, it would also affect the economy,” Aguirre said.

He, however, was mum when asked if he would also support the plan to impeach Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales over her decision to absolve former President Benigno Aquino III in connection with the Disbursement Acceleration Program fund controversy.