Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
Could it be another political “double talk” that President Rodrigo Duterte wanted to stop an impeachment bid against Vice President Leni Robredo and yet his allies seemed unstoppable?
“The President has said, let Leni Robredo being an elected Vice president, do her job. That his allies are doing the opposite is something that we have to ponder if this is political double talk,” Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said on Monday.
Drilon reiterated that impeaching Robredo would only create political division and instability.
“The impeachment of Leni will not solve our problems. It will just complicate the problems that we have today. It will create political division and instability if you impeach Leni…” the senator added.
Drilon and Robredo are both part of the Liberal Party.
Despite the President’s statement against impeaching Robredo, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said he would still push through with the filing of an impeachment complaint against Robredo for criticizing the government’s war on drugs.
READ: Speaker calls Robredo ‘shameless,’ to pursue impeachment
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre also defied the President, saying he would support such move against the Vice President.
Asked about the administration allies defying the President, Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said: “No comment except that this is a free country.”
Pressed if the President’s allies should follow his position, the Senate leader said: “Basta, no comment; this is a free country.”
Pimentel is president of the PDP-Laban, chaired by Duterte.
Last week, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV expressed doubts about Duterte’s call on his allies not to push through with the impeachment move against Robredo, calling the President “doble cara.”
“He’s just saying that because he knows that the impeachment vs VP Leni has no basis at all. But let’s not take his word for it. Double cara yang taon na ‘yan (That person is two-faced),” Trillanes said.
“We should monitor his lieutenants if they would follow through,” he added. JE/rga
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