On Monday, the impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte, filed by Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano, was dismissed by the House Committee on Justice. Rep. Alejano stated in his Verification that, “the material allegations are true and correct, based on his personal knowledge and as culled from authentic records”. However, during the hearing, he also admitted that he has no personal knowledge of the material allegations in the complaint. This was fatal to the impeachment complaint and rendered vulnerable all the material allegations as objectionable based on hearsay.
As members of the House Minority, we are equal to the task of impeaching a public official if the impeachment complaint is sufficient in form and substance. The impeachment complaint filed by Rep. Alejano was insufficient in substance; and for us, was also insufficient in form. I see no justifiable reason to relax these rules, particularly in this case, where the complainant admitted to not having personal knowledge of his allegations.
The most recent Pulse Asia survey resulted in 78-percent performance rating of the President as of March 2017. This means that almost 8 out 10 Filipinos approve of the President’s performance. As district and sectoral representatives, we should be guided, and accord due recognition to the expressed support of our constituencies. As an example, my constituents in the Third District of Quezon are supporters of the President. Thus, it would be against my mandate to contradict their will.
There are talks of impeachment complaints against VP Leni Robredo and Ombudsman Morales, but these have not yet been filed before the House of Representatives.
The impeachment complaint against VP Leni was due to her alleged betrayal of public trust when she released a video message to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, citing that 7,000 people were killed in the drug war of the Duterte administration, while the latter asserted that only 2,000 died in legitimate police anti-drug operations. Further allegations stated in the complaint were misstatement of items in her SALN and misuse of Pag-IBIG funds during her term as the chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).
While the impeachment complaint against VP Leni has not yet been endorsed in the Lower House, I highly encourage her to be more circumspect in her actions especially in the international stage.
It is known that the VP and the President belong to rival political camps, to the detriment of our nation’s reputation where we, as a people, should project a united stand despite political differences. Her pronouncements, unfortunately, caused further dissonance in a government that should have been working together.
The Minority has not yet reviewed the impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Morales. Should it be filed, this will be an opportune time for her to clear the serious allegations of selective prosecution.
These are interesting times in our nation’s history. Three constitutional offices, two of which occupied by the highest and second highest officials in the land, were threatened with removal by impeachment. This says a lot about our nation’s behavior, as we seem to allow the vicious cycle of impeachment, as a means to grab and return to power. In impeaching the President, for example, are those in support of his removal in a position to speak for eight out 10 Filipinos? The answer is obvious.