Marcos: House move to impeach Sara Duterte not ‘defiance’ of my stance

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (L) and Vice President Sara Duterte. | PHOTOS: Official Facebook page of Bongbong Marcos and Lyn Rillon on Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he does not view the decision of House lawmakers to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte as a “defiance” of his stance that this is not the right time for it.

“No. I am sure that the parties that filed the impeachment case felt strongly about it. And despite my opinion that we really—we’d rather not have the impeachment—they continued to do that,” he said in a Palace briefing on Thursday.

“So, it’s not defiance. That is their belief. In their view, this needs to be done, even though I already said, ‘I hope it doesn’t happen’,” he added.

READ: VP Sara Duterte impeachment complaint reaches Senate

“And I don’t view that as a defiance…They’re expressing what they feel to be right,” he also said.

The House of Representatives impeached Duterte on Wednesday after 215 lawmakers signed and endorsed the fourth impeachment complaint against her.

Presidential son and Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos was the first to affix his signature, while presidential cousin and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez was the last to sign.

Issues cited in the fourth impeachment complaint were the following:

• Betrayal of public trust, commission of high crimes due to her threats to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez
• Betrayal of public trust and graft and corruption due to misuse of confidential funds of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Office of the Vice President
• Betrayal of public trust and bribery within the DepEd
• Violation of the 1987 Constitution and betrayal of public trust due to unexplained wealth and failure to disclose assets
• Commission of high crimes, due to involvement in extrajudicial killings in the drug war
• Betrayal of public trust due to alleged destabilization plots and high crimes of sedition and insurrection
• Betrayal of public trust due to her unbecoming conduct as Vice President

In an ambush interview last November, Marcos admitted to reporters that he sent a text message to House leaders telling them not to file an impeachment complaint against Duterte.

“Well, it was actually a private communication, but it got leaked. Yes. Because that’s really my opinion,” Marcos said in a mix of English and Filipino.

“This is not important. This does not make a difference to even one single Filipino life. So why waste time on it?” he asked.

The first three impeachment raps against Duterte were lodged in December.

READ: Marcos hands off on impeachment raps vs VP Duterte – Bersamin

In an ambush interview on January 17, Marcos said now is not the time for impeachment raps as the campaign period is already near.

“There will be no congressmen, no senators—they will be campaigning, and we won’t be able to form a quorum,” he said.

Several lawmakers criticized Marcos’ stand on the issue, accusing him of being a “stumbling block” or cause of delay to remove Duterte from office.

In a statement on February 3, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin refuted such claims and stressed that “the power to initiate and act on impeachment complaints is the sole prerogative of the House of Representatives.”