Two Senators said that Pres. Duterte risks being removed from office after his admission that he killed criminals.
SENATORS – Sens. Richard Gordon and Leila De Lima reacted on the admission of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte that he personally kills criminals in Davao City.
Pres. Rodrigo Duterte has been known for how he hates illegal drugs. He has always been vocal in his desire to clean the country from the presence of drugs.
In fact, way back during the campaign for the 2016 national election, the former Mayor of Davao City has promised to clean the Philippines from illegal drugs in three to six months. He has promised to people that he will bring ‘change’.
The landslide victory of the then-Mayor of Davao City in the 2016 presidential election is one proof that lots of people have really looked up to his capability and plans for the country.
He led the presidential race against Sen. Grace Poe, former Vice Pres. Jejomar Binay, former Interior Sec. Mar Roxas, and the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
After securing the highest post in the country being the victor of the 2016 presidential election, Pres. Duterte then started his campaign against illegal drugs. He has always warned drug users and pushers regarding the matter.
Perhaps frightened by the words of the President and hopeful that the government will aid them in their reform, many illegal drug users and pushers have surrendered to the local officials and the police authorities.
However, undeniably, a lot of killings also happened after the battle against illegal drugs has started. The allegation that extrajudicial killings are happening in the Philippines then hit the surface.
Many known personalities have spoken on the matter. One of them is the staunch critic of Pres. Duterte, Sen. Leila De Lima. Based on a previous news report, Sen. De Lima was even given an award for standing up against the 71-year-old President.
Recently, a news report in ABS-CBN News entailed the reaction of Sens. De Lima and Gordon on the admission made by Pres. Duterte.
According to the news report, speaking in front of the business leaders, the 71-year-old chief executive boasted that he used to look for an ‘encounter to kill’ on streets when he was the Mayor of Davao City to show the law enforcers that he is capable of doing it.
The admission of the President could be a ground for his removal from office as to the lady senator according to the news report. She told CNN that it is ‘betrayal of public trust’.
She also pointed out that ‘mass’ killings fall into ‘high crimes’ category which is a ‘ground for impeachment under the Constitution’.
Another senator, Sen. Gordon, reacted that the President opened himself to the possibility of ‘impeachment proceedings’.
“When he says that, he’s opening himself up, so what’s the legal way, then go ahead and impeach him,” he told the media people. He further added that the statement did not come as a surprise to him.
Meanwhile, the allies of Pres. Duterte dared the opposition to file a motion to remove him from office and emphasized that the impeachment is a numbers game.
A two-thirds vote is required to remove the leader from his position and there are only less than 50 opposition lawmakers in the lower house of Congress which has 293 members.