Duterte Denies Involvement On Impeachment Case Against Robredo
On Thursday (March 23, 2017), President Rodrigo Duterte denies his alleged involvement on filing an impeachment case against VP Leni Robredo.
The president just arrived in the country after his official state visit to Myanmar and Thailand. Upon his arrival, he said in a press briefing that people should stop tinkering the government structure for they can do other things.
On Monday (March 20, 2017), the draft of an impeachment complaint against Robredo was filed by Marcos Loyalists Atty. Oliver Lozano and Melchor Chavez at the House of representatives. The 2 loyalists have called the vice president as termite of the Government.
Robredo was accused of committing a violation in the Constitution and betrayal of public trust for allegedly attending the 60th annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs which has impeachable offenses under the constitution.
“Elected ‘yung tao eh (She was elected), so why do you have to…is it just because she keeps on harping at me? Hayaan mo (Just let her), this is a democracy — freedom of speech,” said by Duterte quoted by CNN.
Previously, the vice president posted her controversial video message raising the concern about Extrajudicial Killings (EJK) in the Philippines. She said on the video that drug suspects were beaten up by the police when they ask for a search warrant during anti-drug operations.
The video message was directly addressed to foreign delegates without communicating the local authorities. The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Office of the President expressed their disappointment on Robredo’s action.
President Duterte also admits that he was not involved in the impeachment complaint filed against Robredo. He also defended the position of the vice president and said: “this is a democracy, leaders are elected.”
Meanwhile, Magdalo party-list representative Gary Alejano also file an impeachment complaint against the president for alleged betrayal of public trust, violation of the Constitution, graft, corruption, and other cases.