MANILA, Philippines - With Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez himself pushing for her impeachment, Vice President Leni Robredo is worried about the fairness of the impeachment proceeding in the House of Representatives, which is dominated by President Duterte’s allies.
But the Liberal Party (LP) in the House, or whatever’s left of it, will fight tooth and nail to block the impeachment of Robredo, party members said.
“Are you not worried that in the absence of a formal impeachment complaint, the first to raise the possibility of filing an impeachment complaint was the leader of the House of Representatives?” Barry Gutierrez, Robredo’s legal adviser, said.
Gutierrez said under the Constitution, the House, which will hear the impeachment complaint, should be the one to assess and determine if the complaint filed against a public official is sufficient in form and substance before voting on it.
“While there is no impeachment proceeding yet, the leader of the House has already made pre-judgment,” he said.
“This is really worrisome. In all past impeachments, this is the first time we see the Speaker leading it.
“If proponents (of the impeachment complaint) are really willing to expend political capital and there will be another bullying like what they did in the voting on the death penalty, it will be a different story,” he added.
Robredo and other anti-death penalty groups accused the House leadership of “arm-twisting” the passage of a bill seeking to reinstate the death penalty.
Last week, the House leadership made good its threat of removing from key positions the congressmen who voted against the death penalty bill, including former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Alvarez last week said he is studying the possibility of filing an impeachment complaint against Robredo for perceived betrayal of public trust for her criticism of the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs in a videotaped message sent to the United Nations.
Alvarez, an ally of Duterte, has also accused Robredo of being behind the first impeachment complaint filed against Duterte.
On Monday, lawyer Oliver Lozano and Melchor Chavez, who are known supporters of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr., filed an impeachment complaint against Robredo, who defeated the dictator’s son and namesake by a slim margin of more than 200,000 votes in last year’s vice presidential race.
They claimed that Robredo “betrayed the people by shaming the nation with her dishonest message to the United Nations.”
Gutierrez belittled the complaint filed by Lozano and Chavez, describing it as “pretty shallow” to be a basis for impeachment.
Deputy speaker and Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo of the LP said the party would resist any pressure from the House leadership to stay away from or support Robredo’s impeachment.
“We will fight her impeachment. We will be by her side in this battle,” Quimbo told reporters yesterday.
“The House should not spend a single second on this baseless complaint. It’s a mere scrap of paper that is supported not by any evidence, but by mere erroneous conclusions of law.
“Congress will only end up wasting time better spent on much needed legislation, including those on tax reform, traffic crisis act, as well as those that seek to make economic gains more inclusive,” he added.
In the past, Lozano submitted to the House several impeachment cases, though most of these did not merit an endorsement from any member of the chamber.
Quimbo said the House “should not allow itself to be used by these recidivist impeachers who trivialize this deeply sacred accountability measure enshrined in our Constitution.”
“We must not allow Congress and its members to be dragged into their petty political charades. It’s a travesty to our political institutions if we are to allow these people to cheapen this process,” he added.
Quimbo noted that since the signatures of only 97 members are needed to send an impeachment complaint against Robredo to the Senate for trial, Alvarez does not need the support of LP members.
Quimbo is one of the remaining 33 LP members in the House. The ruling party during the Aquino administration once boasted of more than 100 members.
Five of the 33 had formed what they called the “genuine opposition.” Two party-list representatives joined the group, which is led by Edcel Lagman of Albay and Teodoro Baguilat Jr. of Ifugao. – With Jess Diaz