spot_img
28.6 C
Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

Morales case up to House ­– Alvarez

- Advertisement -

THE House of Representatives will exercise its independence over the clamor to unseat Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said Wednesday.

He said the House would handle the case competently in the event an impeachment complaint was filed against Morales.

“To me, I do not consider it a pressure,” Alvarez told reporters, referring to President Rodrigo Duterte’s desire to have Morales impeached.

“In the first place, I do not work for the President. I work for the Republic of the Philippines,” Alvarez said.

He said he did not find it personal when Duterte  said he wanted Morales replaced as head of the Office of the Ombudsman.

- Advertisement -
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez

But in the event an impeachment complaint was filed in the House, “we have no choice but to process it.”

Alvarez played down the criticism the House was using impeachment as a tool against the political opposition.

“I do not think it was a fair statement,” Alvarez said.

“In the first place, impeachment is a constitutional process. If it is a constitutional process, it is in accordance [with] the Constitution and thus legal.”

The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption earlier promised to file an impeachment case against Morales, but has yet to do so at the House of Representatives.

Similarly, lawyers Ferdinand Topacio and Jacinto Paras are also bent on filing an ouster complaint against the Ombudsman but are still finalizing it.

Topacio and Paras were the ones who filed an impeachment complaint against Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista, but it was dismissed by the House committee on justice led by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali.

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles