Robredo says she’s unfazed by impeachment threats

Vice President Leni Robredo said on Wednesday she has done nothing wrong as the second highest official of the land and was prepared to face any move to impeachment her.

Robredo was responding to statements from proadministration lawmakers, including House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, that she might face impeachment after Congress resumes its session next week.

Alvarez recently told the Inquirer that he was building a case against her for “betraying the public trust” when she criticized President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs and extrajudicial killings in her message to an international narcotics forum.

“We are not doing anything wrong. We are prepared to face it. It’s part of the democratic process,” Robredo told reporters during a visit to a poor community in Malabon City.

Political firestorm

Two impeachment complaints were filed against the Vice President after her March 16 video message to a side event of the annual meeting of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, Austria, sparked a political firestorm as it coincided with the filing of the first impeachment case against the President.

However, no member of the House of Representatives has endorsed the complaints, prompting the complainants to submit them to the Speaker.

Alvarez has not acted on either complaint.

Robredo said she couldn’t tell whether the impeachment moves would gain traction in the House, where she had served as representative of her home district in Camarines Sur.

Sufficient grounds

“It’s hard to say [if the impeachment will get the support of lawmakers]. But maybe it would be better if the support for it were to be based on sufficient grounds,” she said.

“Impeachment is a political process, but any decision should be based on the grounds for impeachment. Let’s listen to the grounds and discuss whether this should be passed to the Senate” as the impeachment court, Robredo said.

She added that she was not fazed by it and would not allow any complaint to impede her work.

Alvarez told the Inquirer in a recent interview that Robredo had spoken against the entire country with her video message.

“What? You would go to the UN, then you would talk and lambaste our nation? Isn’t that betrayal of public trust? That’s a ground for impeachment,” Alvarez said.