Magdalo lawmaker files impeach case vs Rody

MANILA, Philippines -  A soldier-turned-lawmaker filed the first impeachment case yesterday against President Duterte for allegedly pursuing a state policy of extrajudicial killings and amassing more than P2 billion in bank deposits.

In his 16-page complaint, Rep. Gary Alejano of party-list group Magdalo accused the President of culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust and committing other high crimes, which are the grounds for impeachment under the Constitution.

Alejano, a former Marine captain, is a colleague of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV in the Magdalo group of former soldiers.

Duterte’s spokesmen have accused Trillanes of allegedly destabilizing his administration, which the senator denies.

Alejano said the President and his officials should not treat his impeachment complaint as a destabilization effort.

“If this President and his administration are truly democratic and believe in accountability, they should have no other interpretation of this action other than an act which is allowed under the Constitution and our democratic space,” he told a news conference after filing his complaint with the House of Representatives.

“This impeachment complaint is the culmination of our conscientious and diligent opposition to the excesses and the crimes of former mayor and now President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, which render him unfit to continue to be president and for which he must be held to account,” he said.

He said he and his group of former soldiers are not contemplating any move against Duterte that is outside of the law and the Constitution.

“If the President cannot tolerate criticism, he should declare himself a dictator,” he added.

In his complaint, Alejano said the President “elevated to the national level his policy of killing suspected drug users without due process when he was mayor of Davao City.”

“As a result, in just over eight months since he assumed office, more than 8,000 individuals have been killed in President Duterte’s war on drugs…particularly in police operations as well as in vigilante and gangland-style of assassinations and/or executions or ‘salvaging’, most of which have gone uninvestigated by the authorities,” he said.

He also cited the 1,424 persons killed by the so-called Davao death squad during then mayor Duterte’s watch.

“Contrary to his oath of office and to the Constitution and prevailing laws, Respondent Rodrigo Roa Duterte publicly adopted a policy of promoting, encouraging as well as aiding and abetting in extrajudicial killing of persons suspected of being drug pushers, drug users and/or committing other crimes,” the former soldier said.

Alarming statements

He said numerous statements from Duterte like those encouraging the public and even communist rebels to kill drug suspects, promising law enforcers pardon if convicted of extrajudicial killings and declaring criminals not part of humanity are proof of such state policy of killing.

He said even the President’s political and personal enemies and innocent civilians have not been spared from this policy.

He added that his witnesses include self-confessed Davao death squad members Edgar Matobato and Arturo Lascañas, who have claimed they killed people upon Duterte’s orders.

To support the charge of graft and corruption, Alejano quoted the findings of the Commission on Audit questioning the hiring of 11,000 contractual workers during Duterte’s time as Davao City mayor.

“These are ghost employees, which cost taxpayers P708 million. Considering the amount involved, the President could be guilty of plunder, aside from malversation of public funds,” he said. He said Duterte’s defense was that mayors before him did it.

Alejano’s proof of the President’s alleged huge bank deposits and unexplained wealth are documents that have already been revealed by Trillanes.

He said the deposits were kept under the personal account of Duterte’s name and the joint accounts of the President and his daughter Sara, incumbent mayor of Davao City, in the Bank of Philippine Islands-Julia Vargas Avenue branch in Pasig City and EDSA-Greenhills branch, and in the Banco de Oro branch in Mandaluyong City.

He said a summary of the deposits made by “accountants and finance specialists” who helped Trillanes analyze the transactions showed that a total of P2.207 billion “flowed into the subject bank accounts from 2005 to 2015.”

He said Trillanes’ documents also showed that Sara Duterte, Paolo Duterte and Sebastian Duterte had P121 million, P104 million and P143 million, respectively, while Cielito Honeylet Avanceña, the President’s current live-in partner, had amassed P187 million.

Alejano attached Trillanes’ summaries of the bank deposits to support his complaint.

He said Duterte did not declare his bank accounts and other properties in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.

He admitted that getting the House, which is dominated by administration allies, to support his case “is an uphill battle.”

“But precisely, the battle for impeachment must be fought both inside and outside the halls of Congress. Outside of it, we have the Church, the academe, civil society and the great number of Filipinos who did not vote, do not support and are not in favor of President Duterte staying in power for having violated the Constitution and broken our penal laws,” he said.

He said he is also banking on the support of his opposition colleagues and House members disgruntled with the chamber’s leadership for resorting to arm-twisting in the voting on the death penalty bill and purging those who voted against the measure.

Alejano belongs to the seven-member opposition led by Reps. Edcel Lagman of Albay and Teodoro Baguilat Jr. of Ifugao.

Trillanes said that being a part of Magdalo, he supports the filing of the impeachment complaint, saying it is the last venue for the President to face the allegations against him.

Democratic process

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said the Magdalo group has every right to file an impeachment complaint against the President as part of the democratic processes.

He stressed there is no reason for anyone to attack the complainant, who is just following a process.

“First, it is the constitutional way of booting out a sitting president. So Magdalo party-list should not be criticized, much less mocked, for filing the impeachment complaint,” Lacson said.

“At least this time they are not engaging in another Oakwood-type of adventure,” he added, referring to the July 2003 failed mutiny by the Magdalo group.

But making the impeachment succeed is a different matter altogether, he said. 

They would have to secure a vote by one-third of the entire membership of the House to impeach the President and then 16 of the 24 senators to convict.

“All I can say is, without necessarily associating myself with them in the matter of impeaching PRRD, my simple message is good luck to them,” Lacson said, referring to Duterte by his presidential initials.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan said that regardless of whether or not they support the impeachment of President Duterte, all legislators should respect the process as provided for under the Constitution.

He reminded the legislators that they all took an oath to protect the Constitution and its processes when they were elected as public officials.

“The process of impeachment is enshrined in our Constitution as a mechanism of public accountability. Whether we agree or disagree with the filing of the complaint we must respect the process as part of our constitutional democracy,” Pangilinan said.

Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV said it is the right of every Filipino to avail of the processes under the Constitution to hold their leaders accountable.

“That said, dispensation of an impeachment complaint is a process, one which the House of Representatives will have to undertake when they resume in May,” Aquino said.

“These processes laid out in our laws need to be followed and we call for a transparent and just resolution of this matter,” he added.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, for his part, questioned the motive of the Magdalo group in filing the impeachment complaint, which he said would be destructive.

Ejercito said the Magdalo group’s past actions against the Arroyo administration could be justified as her legitimacy was in question, unlike Duterte who enjoys a clear mandate from the people.

“No compelling reason to file an impeachment complaint against the President at this time. The time is not right to file this impeachment complaint. When will we ever move forward if we have ouster moves like these? This is destructive,” Ejercito said.

The filing of an impeachment complaint was a waste of time for Sen. Richard Gordon as allies of the President dominate the House of Representatives.

“The majority in the lower house is too big. They’re the impeachment panel,” Gordon said.

“Given the political realities and the allegations he committed, what proof do they have?” 

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the burden of proof against the President is on the complainants.