A House leader on Wednesday expressed belief the impeachment case filed against President Rodrigo Duterte will be dismissed before Congress goes on sine die adjournment on June 2.
Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the House committee on justice, which deliberates on impeachment cases, said his panel will “dispose of the complaint” before the first regular session of the 17th Congress ends in June.
Umali said he is certain that members of the House supermajority led by the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan or PDP-Laban will vote to dismiss the impeachment complaint filed by Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano against Duterte.
“I do not want to preempt the action of the panel members, but there is a very solid supermajority. The House of Representatives under PDP-Laban is stronger than ever,” said Umali, who used to be a member of the Liberal Party.
Malacañang echoed Umali’s belief, with Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo saying the administration’s control over Congress will hold vital in junking the impeachment complaint filed against the President.
“I don’t think it will succeed,” Panelo told reporters of efforts in Congress to prioritize Alejano’s impeachment proposal. “There is an overall majority in the Congress that supports the President. As well as the overwhelming majority of Filipinos who support the President, too.”
He reiterated that the impeachment complaint against Duterte is simply “propaganda” to discredit the President.
Umali said he expects the impeachment case to be referred to his committee next week, and promised to schedule the hearing at the soonest possible time.
Meanwhile, Umali advised supporters of the President who seek the impeachment of Vice President Leni Robredo to do their homework in filing a solid impeachment case against her.
The so-called Impeach Leni Movement wants Robredo impeached for betrayal of public trust, following her video message to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, where she criticized the administration’s war on illegal drugs.
But the group failed to file an impeachment complaint against the Vice President, unsuccessfully convincing any member of the House of Representatives to endorse their action.
This developed as PBA party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles said there was a “miscommunication” between his camp and the group of lawyers who want to unseat Robredo.
Nograles said he accepted lawyer Bruce Rivera’s apology on the aborted impeachment complaint, which had Nograles’ name as endorser even though the congressman had not given his consent.
