Former party-list representative and human rights lawyer Barry Gutierrez said Vice President Sara Duterte’s removal from the National Security Council (NSC) was an outcome she brought upon herself when she threatened the life of the President, the First Lady and the House Speaker.
Gutierrez, who was a spokesperson of former Vice President Leni Robredo, argued that Duterte’s controversial “kill” remarks made her a potential threat to national security.
“The VP publicly threatened the President, FL, and Speaker. That is certainly more than enough basis for excluding her from the NSC, considering that she unequivocally demonstrated that she herself may be a threat to national security,” Gutierrez told Manila Standard.
Gutierrez’s comments were an apparent reaction to lawyer Salvador Panelo’s criticism of the removal of Duterte and her prior exclusion from NSC meetings, accusing the President of “dirty politics” that aims to “diminish” the Vice President’s political capital.
He also recounted how in December 2016, Robredo received a text message from Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr., conveying President Duterte’s instruction, through his executive assistant Bong Go, for her “to desist from attending all Cabinet meetings” starting December 5.”
Evasco confirmed the announcement, saying, “Utos ’yan ni Pangulong Duterte [That’s President Duterte’s orders], and the reason is there are irreconcilable differences between VP Robredo and the administration.”
Earlier, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin explained that the Vice President’s participation “is not relevant” to the NSC, but he stopped short of stating the exact reason for her removal.
National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, for his part, said that the NSC revamp as detailed in Executive Order (EO) 81 released by Malacañang on Friday, was necessary to address “evolving national security threats.”
As this developed, National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya on Monday denied claims that the recent reorganization in the council was due to a supposed rift in the country’s uniformed services.
“Let me be the one to tell you, there is no rift within the security sector, our soldiers are 100 percent behind the constituted authority and the chain of command,” he said in a mixture of Filipino and English.
“If you see people on social media expressing their gripes, these are probably retired members of the Armed Forces, there are no incumbent military officials that don’t support the chain of command,” he added.
Malaya made this clarification following a statement of the Makabayan bloc, which the official said was made to sow intrigues within the government.
As this developed, the Makabayan bloc said it would seek a consultative meeting with the three lawmakers who endorsed impeachment complaints against the incumbent Vice President.
In a letter addressed to Camarines Sur Rep. Gabriel Bordado, the bloc stated that it intends to convince the Marcos administration and the Lower House to hold Duterte accountable.
“As fellow advocates for good governance and public accountability – in particular, the Vice President’s accountability to the people – we hope that we can discuss in this meeting our Impeachment Complaints and agree on efforts to push the Marcos administration and the House of Representatives leadership to move the impeachment process along,” they wrote.
In a phone interview, the group also sent the same invitation letter to Rep. Perci Cendaña (Akbayan) and Rep. Lex Colada (AAMBIS-Owa), according to Rep. France Castro.
Cendaña was the first House lawmaker to endorse the impeachment complaint filed by various civil society groups and individuals such as former senator Leila de Lima.
Bordado and Colada, on the other hand, were the latest members of the House to do such a move last December 19.
The progressive bloc, meanwhile, endorsed the second complaint on December 4.
The grounds on these three impeachment complaints stemmed from Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds, corruption and bribery, as well as betrayal of public trust.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “‘Kill threats’ vs PBBM justifies VP Sara’s removal from NSC—lawyer.”
