It seems the impeachment fever is on both sides of the political divide. Now it’s Vice President Leni Robredo who’s being threatened with impeachment by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
For what? Alvarez, a known attack dog of President Rodrigo Duterte, is after Robredo for what he perceives as having “put the country in a bad light” when she sent a video tape to the United Nations in Vienna detailing the extrajudicial killings in the government’s brutal war on drugs.
Somebody should tell Alvarez that the EJK issue on the war on drugs is known the world over, even without the Robredo tape. The VP merely compiled all the reports and film footage of bloodied victims sprawled on the ground after being shot by police operatives. The almost-daily killings of drug suspects are shown mornings and evenings on national TV news and picked up by international media like CNN, BBC and the New York Times.
Alvarez went the extra mile to point out that if his President is impeached in the case filed by Magdalo Party-List Rep. Gary Alejano, the vice president would be the beneficiary. But of course! That is the order of succession in our Constitution. Under the constitutional succession, it is Vice President Robredo’s duty to assume the role of president. Duterte’s remark that Robredo is in a hurry to become president only betrays his own insecurity. Alvarez, though, forgot to mention that under the leadership succession order, he’s also in line as president after the Senate President.
Duterte’s Speaker should first have the “bebot” to handle the impeachment case filed in the House. After it has been dismissed, it should then proceed to push the case against Robredo. The way it looks, the Alvarez move is only a tit-for-tat leverage for the impeachment case filed against Duterte.
Except for speaking out against the extrajudicial killings in Duterte’s war on drugs, Robredo is probably the least aggressive VP and ranking member of the opposition Liberal Party or whatever is left of it. Most of its members have switched political side to join the ruling party of President Duterte’s PDP-Laban.
Instead of pushing for federalism and the restoration of the death penalty, our legislators should focus on instituting an iron-clad two- party system to avert turncoatism. Their other focus should be to ban political dynasties. But then, politicians would never ever enact laws that would be their own death knell to staying in power.
Perennial impeachment case filer Oliver Lozano was beaten to the draw by Alejano’ action against Duterte. Feeling upstaged, the lawyer Lozano is stewing. Known as the serial impeachment filer against former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, other lawyers fault Lozano for filing weak or defective impeachment cases. This, observers claim, is merely to shield the object of his complaint so no other case can be filed against her. The law provides that only one impeachment case in a year can be filed against an incumbent president.
Both Duterte and Robredo have denied they are behind the two impeachment cases. If so, then who are behind these legal maneuverings? House Speaker Alvarez is never shy to say he’s at the forefront of the impeach-Robredo move. The case against Duterte was filed by Magdalo Party-List Rep. Gary Alejano. A known confederate of Senator Sonny Trillanes in past coup attempts, Alejano may be suspected of acting on the order of Trillanes, a former navy captain who gained prominence in the Oakwood mutiny against Arroyo.
Alejano’ case is based on several allegations which were partly President Duterte’s doing, particularly his overzealous war on drugs. Unmindful of the European Union’s and human rights groups’ concern, Duterte said the renewed anti narcotics drive will even be more brutal.
Lest my comments are misconstrued as in defense of Robredo, I would like to make clear that I do not know Robredo. I have never even met her. Robredo, however, could be more firm and emphatic when making public statements. She should, without being contentious, be stronger in her statement in denying any hand in the impeachment case against Digong. She has been marginalized and left with no options but to resign from her Housing and Resettlement Cabinet post when the President told her not to attend any more Cabinet meetings. She was also excluded from diplomatic receptions at the Palace when the protocol is that the Vice President must be invited to the occasion.
Robredo, therefore, could no longer be blamed for acting like the opposition after all the indignities she has suffered under this president.
The Alejano impeachment case filed against Duterte includes graft for allegedly amassing P2.2 billon in several bank accounts, the extrajudicial killings in the administration’s bloody war on illegal drugs , human rights violations and betrayal of public trust. Graft might be hard to prove without a paper trail tracing the money to Duterte’s accounts. Allegations of human rights violations in the summary killings of drug suspects could be as difficult as this has to be proven it is a state policy.
Where, then, is Duterte vulnerable?
If we are to listen to the words of Antonio Carpio, Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, it is in the area of betrayal of public trust. The President of the Republic, according to Carpio, took an oath and swore to defend the territorial sovereignty of the Philippines. We have yet to see Duterte do this. What we have seen instead is accommodation and a weak response to China’s aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea. The Chinese have seized Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines and turned it into a military installation that effectively bars our fishermen into the marine resource -rich waters near Bajo Masinloc off Zambales. The 200 kilometers from our coastline is our exclusive economic zone as mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea. The Hague international court upheld Manila’s challenge to Beijing’s sweeping claim of nearly the entire South China Sea.
Instead of asserting our sovereign right to the West Philippine Sea, Duterte appears to be subservient to China’s aggression while accepting multi-million loans and grants of purportedly development funds for agriculture and infrastructure projects, Should there not be a red line between government-to-government assistance and accepting funds by looking the other way?
Justice Carpio suggests that the government should file a strong protest against Chinese aggression and violations of our territorial waters, He went further to say that Duterte should sent Philippine Navy vessels back to Scarborough Shoal and accost the Chinese ships. If attacked by the Chinese, Carpio said the country could then seek American assistance under the PHL-US Mutual Defense Treaty of 1956.
But then, what are we talking about? The Alejano impeachment case against President Duterte will never prosper in the House with the administration-controlled super majority. Impeachment, after all, is more than just a legal action. It is political and a numbers game.