Akbayan solon agrees Duterte may be impeached over Chinese in Philippine waters

Akbayan party-list Representative Tom Villarin on Thursday agreed with the statement of former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario that President Rodrigo Duterte could be impeached for failing to protect the Philippine territory.

In a statement, Villarin said Duterte's recent actions on issues on the West Philippine Sea is a betrayal of his loyalties to the nation. He said that instead of protecting the country's interest, Duterte has "surrendered it to China."

"Duterte has committed a deliberate and wrongful breach of of our Constitution that is an impeachable offense," Villarin said in a message to reporters.

Villarin, for instance, cited Article XXII Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution which Duterte had supposedly violated. The provision says that the State is mandated to "protect the nation’s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and exclusive economic zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to Filipino citizens."

Duterte may have also violated Article XXIII, Section 7 of the same Constitution, which tasks the State to protect the rights of subsistence of fishermen, particularly of local communities, Villarin said.

The President had earlier expressed openness to conduct a joint investigation between the Philippines and China over the ramming incident between Chinese and Philippine vessels in Recto Bank on June 9.

But at the same time, Duterte also dismissed the incident as a "little maritime accident," and said that China can fish within the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone.

"President Duterte, even if he was elected by the people, has no right to allow Chinese fishermen nor any foreigners for that matter, to fish in our exclusive economic zone as these are resources exclusively reserved for Filipinos," Villarin said.

"Duterte cannot invoke ‘friendship’ as the Chinese government of Xi Jinping has wantonly and openly violated our sovereignty and is an ‘antagonistic’ party whom we challenged in the Arbitral tribunal that we won," he added.

Consistent with Del Rosario and Villarin's statements, Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio also said the Philippines must defend its national territory.

Akbayan failed to win a seat in the 18th Congress. —NB, GMA News