Duterte accepts Bautista resignation

Comelec Chair Andres Bautista (left) said he was leaving his fate to President Rodrigo Duterte (right) amid his impeachment by the House of Representatives despite him already tendering his resignation. INQUIRER FILE / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

President Duterte said he has accepted the resignation of Andres Bautista as Commission on Elections chair, and believes that it would be better if he leaves his post so that there would be no trouble.

The House of Representatives impeached Bautista the same day he announced that he has tendered his resignation, which would be effective on December 31, 2017.

“Mukhang pinirmahan ko kasi mas mabuti maalis siya diyan di pa kayo nag announce ng resumption (I think I signed it, because it would be better if he leaves the post before there was an announcement [of the impeachment],” Mr. Duterte said in an interview over PTV 4 aired on Friday but taped on Thursday.

He said he had nothing to do with the impeachment of Bautista and was not told by congress members of the move.

When he received Bautista’s resignation letter, he said he thought that the earlier, the better.

The impeachment came before the effectivity of Bautista’s resignation, he noted.

“For me, I did not know that there was a resumption [of the impeachment]. The earlier it goes away, the better,” he said.

“But what was on my mind, really was, the other day, if Bautista goes, then it would be more orderly, there would be no more trouble,” he added.