Palace: Impeachment meant to discredit gov’t

MANILA, Philippines -  The move to file an impeachment complaint against President Duterte is nothing but part of efforts to discredit his administration, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella insisted yesterday.

In a press briefing at Malacañang, Abella expressed his suspicion of a plot being executed to destabilize the Duterte government, marring it with allegations of human rights violations over a bloody war against illegal drugs.

“It does seem like part of a larger scheme of things,” Abella said. “It just seems rather dramatic that everything seems to be coordinated at this stage.”

The President’s critics, he added, are “scraping the bottom of the barrel” to implement plans to oust Duterte, barely nine months into his presidency.

He is also not discounting the possibility that Vice President Leni Robredo’s video presentation before the United Nations Commission on Drugs in Geneva is part of this plot. 

“Let’s put it this way. It just seems too well coordinated. Events like these seemed to be too well coordinated as to just be coincidental,” Abella said.

The Palace, he added, has been monitoring the developments, including the video presentation where Robredo challenged the government’s war against drugs, describing the killings as “summary executions.”

“Filipinos were hopeless and helpless,” Robredo said.

Robredo refused to comment on the complaint filed by Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano to impeach Duterte. She becomes president if Duterte is impeached.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines also denied that it is part of a destabilization plot, describing Alejano’s move as political in nature.

“In so far as the AFP is concerned, our monitoring remains the same. There is no destabilization plot within the military,” said Col. Edgard Arevalo, the AFP spokesman.

While he admitted that Alejano may have a following in the military, this does not mean that they also share his political views.

Malacañang insisted that Duterte did not commit treason, betrayal of public trust, bribery or graft –which might warrant the impeachment of a President – and remains confident that it would not prosper.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and Solicitor General Jose Calida said the complaint has no basis at all.

“The allegations in the complaint are not anchored on concrete solid evidence that would support findings of any of the enumerated grounds for impeachment. Mere allegations without proof are not evidence. It was filed in aid of destabilization. Suntok sa buwan yan (It’s a long shot),” Aguirre said of its chances to even move in Congress that is dominated by political allies of Duterte.

Calida described it as “a desperate attempt of spoiled grown up brats to destabilize our country.”

“Representative Alejano is a toady of his braggart patron, Sen. Antonio Trillanes. They are not even in the league of Don Quixote. So, this impeachment won’t fly. It will crash like a rudderless plane flown by witless pilots,” Calida said.

He added that both Alejano and Trillanes have not learned their lessons in the Oakwood and Manila Peninsula “foolish misadventures,” which were parts of attempts to topple then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Chief presidential legal adviser Salvador Panelo also believes that the complaint will not prosper as he described it as a mere propaganda to besmirch Duterte’s reputation.

“Such filing will not deter his resolve to continue vigorously his war against the illegal drug trade, criminality and corruption as well as to bring economic prosperity to the country by demolishing the obstacles that shackle it,” Panelo said. 

In waging the war against illegal drugs that has already seen the deaths of more than 7,000 people, Abella stressed that Duterte has always put in mind the welfare of the greater number of Filipinos.

He added that Malacañang respects the independence of the House of Representatives and that the President has always allowed his allies to act independently.

Abella harped on the need for everybody to “grow up” and work together to help Duterte in nation-building. – With Edu Punay, Janvic Mateo, Jaime Laude