Alvarez: Impeach rap vs. Duterte lacks substance, doomed to fail

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Thursday said the impeachment complaint lodged by a colleague against President Rodrigo Duterte lacked substance and was doomed to fail.

"All of us are entitled to our own stupidity... Alam naman natin na talagang medyo tabingi ang inihaing impeachment complaint... Malinaw na malinaw na po. Sing linaw ng sikat ng araw," Alvarez said in an interview on Balitanghali.

The Speaker said the so-called "supermajority," composed of PDP-Laban party members and other Duterte allies, does not even have to gather enough votes just to prevent the impeachment complaint from hurdling the House of Representatives.

"Huwag na po tayong makarating sa number, ma'am. Pag-usapan na lang natin ang substance. I don't think sa substance papasa iyan," he said.

Under the rules, the committee membership first has to decide, through a majority vote, whether an impeachment complaint is sufficient in form and substance before sending it to the plenary, where a one-third vote is needed for it to be sent to the Senate.

"Kailangan kasi sa impeachment complaint, kailangan sufficient in form and substance bago pupunta sa plenary," said Alvarez.

"Iyong form, maaaring ma-conform. Pero iyong substance, malabo na ma-comply nila as grounds for impeachment," he said.

Alvarez brushed off accusations made by Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano, who filed the complaint, that Duterte committed culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, and other high crimes.

"As a lawyer, madaling magsulat ng culpable violation [sa complaint] but to prove it is another thing," he said.

"Hindi na kailangan pag-usapan [iyang grounds] dahil walang basehan. Kapag walang basehan, walang patutunguhan," Alvarez added. — MDM, GMA News