A new impeachment complaint to be filed against President Rodrigo Duterte will not prosper, the head of the House committee on justice said Friday.
Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali said he saw no clamor to unseat Duterte who, he said, was popular among the people.
“I do not think there is a clamor or support to impeach President Duterte, but I will process any impeachment complaint as a matter of our constitutional duty,” Umali said.
He made his statement after Rep. Gary Alejano threatened to file another impeachment complaint against Duterte for his alleged subservience to China over the disputed West Philippine Sea.
Alejano said his group was looking at Duterte’s supposed dereliction of duty for allegedly allowing the Chinese government to conduct a survey in Benham Rise and the West Philippine Sea without informing the public.
But Alejano said his group’s renewed effort to unseat the President would be “an exercise in futility” if the majority of his colleagues would not support it.
He said Duterte should be held accountable for his alleged “illegal acts,” including his alleged capitulation to China in the West Philippine Sea.
On May 9, 2017, the impeachment case that Alejano filed against Duterte was deemed initiated after it was referred to the House justice committee, signaling the start of the one-year impeachment protection for Duterte.
After the referral, no other complaint was allowed to be filed against Duterte for a period of one year, or until May 8, 2018.
On May 15, 2017, Umali dismissed the impeachment complaint for “lack of substance.”
In his impeachment complaint last year, Alejano raised the issue of extrajudicial killings, claiming Duterte was pursuing a state policy of killing in his anti-drug war campaign.
He also alleged that Duterte had amassed illegal wealth worth P2.2 billion.