Alejano willing to lose Congress seat over impeach bid vs. Duterte

Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano on Monday said he is willing to lose his seat in the House of Representatives over the impeachment complaint he filed against President Rodrigo Duterte.

Speaking to reporters while the hearing on his complaint was suspended, Alejano said: “Bakit naman ako nandito, para magpalamig sa opisina kong aircon, ‘no? Hindi ako nandito para maglaro lamang.”

“Kahit itataya ko ‘yung posisyon ko bilang representative ng Magdalo Partylist. It doesn’t matter, because alam ko tama ‘yung tinatayuan natin,” he added.

At the House justice committee hearing on Monday morning, Alejano was questioned notably over his “personal knowledge” on material allegations contained in his complaint.

In particular, he was pressed whether he had personal knowledge over the spate of extrajudicial killings under the new administration.

Upon the insistence of Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, Alejano replied that he did not personally witness any of the thousands of killings linked to Duterte’s war on drugs.

The Magdalo lawmaker and former mutineer had maintained that he based his complaint on “authenticated records” and testimonies of self-confessed Davao Death Squad members, former police officer Arturo Lascañas and hitman Edgar Matobato.

This prompted Fariñas to say Alejano should have let the witnesses file the impeachment complaint instead, with his endorsement. —KG, GMA News