FORMER Speaker and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon could potentially face a probe by the House Committee on Ethics over his call to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to withdraw support for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
This developed as Camiguin Rep. Jurdin Jesus Romualdo urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate Alvarez for what he described as “seditious statement,” and file the necessary charges.
Lanao del Norte Rep. Khalid Dimaporo also urged Alvarez to choose his words carefully as his recent statements bordered on conduct unbecoming a member of the House of Representatives.
“I would kindly urge the former Speaker to be cautious with his words and clear on his intent. At face value, his anti-government statements are unbecoming of a member of the House of Representatives and may warrant an ethics case against him,” Dimaporo said.
In a political rally of die-hard Duterte supporters held in Tagum City, Davao del Norte on Sunday, Alvarez called on the AFP to withdraw support for President Marcos Jr. in view of administration policies which he claimed tend to escalate the tensions with China in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Asked whether the Department of Justice can indict Alvarez on charges of sedition owing to his recent statements, Dimaporo said the country should not give much importance to the former speaker.
“As for the DOJ, it should be decided on by the Executive. But I don’t feel he should be given importance. Our country has other more pressing matters for the DOJ to attend to than the grumblings of a politician,” Dimaporo said.
Many have expressed views that the statements of Alvarez can be considered seditious.
“The response to the seditious statement should be the immediate filing of a criminal case so that the move to incite people, including the military, to rebel against the government will be nipped in the bud,” Romualdo stressed.
He said the crime of sedition includes a person’s conduct, remarks or speech inciting the public to move against the state or the duly-constituted or elected authority.
“Clearly, what former Speaker Alvarez remarked during a rally in Tagum City falls within the purview of sedition,” he said.
Alvarez is an ally of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
For his part, Rep. Johnny Pimentel of Surigao del Sur said Alvarez’s call for the military to withdraw support for President Marcos is tantamount to an act of sedition or rebellion.
Pimentel said Alvarez is stoking the fires of divisiveness at a time when the country needs economic gains in order to address the problems of the nation.
“The remarks of the former speaker are uncalled for. That is tantamount to an act of sedition or rebellion,” Pimentel said.
“Now is not the time to be divisive when our country is trying to promote our country to be an investment haven to foreign investors. Instead, we should all unite and give our support to President Bongbong Marcos Jr. with his effort for economic reforms,” Pimentel declared.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte also found himself in hot water after the discovery of a “gentleman’s agreement” he made with China during his term for the Philippines to refrain from repairing the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in the Ayungin Shoal.
Many believed Duterte compromised the integrity of the Philippines’ rights and sovereignty over the WPS.
