REP. Karlo Alexei Nograles said Tuesday there was no way an impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte would prosper because the President did not only have the backing of 91 percent of the Filipinos but also the support of the super majority in the House of Representatives.
Duterte’s staunch ally made his statement even as former Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., vice chairman of the Liberal Party, denied that the LP was behind a move to oust Duterte from power.
He said the LP, the dominant party during the Aquino administration, would never be a Trojan horse in the super majority and that any effort to impeach Duterte would not prosper.
“Definitely, the LP is not a Trojan Horse,” Belmonte said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon also said the Liberal Party, of which he is the national vice chairman, had no plans to oust Duterte.
Drilon said even Duterte did not directly identify who were the “yellow” forces behind the moves to oust him as a result of his fight against illegal drugs.
Nograles made this statement to dispel rumors that there is a move to impeach Duterte in the House of Representatives in relation to the killings attributed to his war against illegal drugs.
“There is no way that this alleged impeachment could even take off in the House of Representatives,” Nograles said.
“For one, there is no constitutional basis to impeach the President because his war against drugs is consistent with his mandate and was the core of his platform of government when he decided to run for the presidency.”
Nograles said any impeachment move against the President would be a futile exercise.
“It is a numbers game and as far as I am concerned, the President is not just being supported by 91 percent of the Filipinos but he is also backed not just by the super majority in the House of Representatives. I say that there’s no way President Duterte can be impeached,” Nograles said.