Marcos denies hand in Sara Duterte impeachment

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Thursday denied that he has a hand in the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte. 

Marcos told reporters during a press conference that the Executive branch cannot have a hand in the matter. 

''No, the Executive cannot have a hand in the impeachment. Walang role ang Executive sa impeachment,'' Marcos said.

However, he admitted that he discussed the issue with lawmakers, including Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. 

''Did we discuss it with the Speaker, did we discuss it with the other congressman, of course... ang tinatanong anong plano ninyo, ano bang gusto niyong gawin? Nandito na ito eh, hindi na namin maiwasan,'' he said.  

[The question is, what are your plans? What do you intend to do? It's here ... we cannot do anything about it.]

Number one signatory

Meanwhile, Marcos was also asked for comment as regards Ilocos Norte Representative Ferdinand Alexander ''Sandro'' Marcos being the number one signatory in Duterte's impeachment.

According to Marcos, his son sought his advice regarding the matter. He told the lawmaker that once an impeachment has been filed, there is a procedure that needs to be followed.

''So, sabi ko, 'nandiyan na tayo,' sabi ko kay Cong. Sandro, sabi ko sa kanya, [I said to him, here we are.]  'The process has already begun. So, it’s your duty now to support that process. So, do your duty.' That’s what I told him, 'Do your duty. You have to support the process. You are constitutionally mandated to carry out that process. And you’re a congressman, so do your duty.' That’s what I told him. I didn’t know he’ll be the first to sign though,'' he shared.

Not a defiance

Despite his stance on impeachment that it will not benefit the lives of the public, Marcos said he believes that the lawmakers did not commit an act of defiance when they still pushed for the impeachment of the Vice President.

''No. I am sure that the parties that filed the impeachment cases felt strongly about it. And despite my importunings and expressing my opinion that we really – we’d rather not have the impeachment, they continued to do that,'' Marcos said.

''So, it’s not defiance. Ganyan ang kanilang paniniwala. Sa kanilang paniniwala, kailangan na kailangang gawin ito. Kahit na sinabi ko na, “Sana huwag na”. “Hindi, hindi puwede, hindi naming puwedeng palampasin ito.” Ganoon ang thinking nila. So, tinuloy nila,'' he added.

[So, it’s not defiance. That is their belief. They believed that it has to be done, even if I said that it should not happen. But that is what they believed in, that's their thinking ... so they pushed through with it.]

Special session

Meanwhile, Marcos disclosed that he is open to calling for a special session to tackle Duterte's impeachment. However, there is no formal request yet from the Senate, according to Marcos.

“If the senators ask for it, yes,” Marcos said.

“Again, sila ang magde-decide. Hindi kami ang nagde-decide nito. We – if the Senate President calls me up on the telephone, the senators, kinausap ko ‘yung mga senador kung puwede bang mag-special session?” “Sure.” Gagawin ko. Pero kung wala silang request na ganoon, ibig sabihin may iba pa silang ginagawa. They are not yet ready,” he added.

(Again, they will be the ones to decide. We will not decide on this. We - if the Senate President calls me up on the telephone, ‘the senators, I talked to them if it’s possible to have a special session?’ ‘Sure.’ I’ll do that. But if there’s no request, it means they have other things to do. They are not yet ready.)

The House of Representatives on Wednesday impeached Duterte with 215 lawmakers endorsing the verified complaint against her, which was transmitted to the Senate for the impeachment trial.

The Senate, however, did not tackle the transmittal of the articles of impeachment on the last session day. 

This as Congress went on recess to make way for the campaign period for Eleksyon 2025.

Impeachment trial

Earlier in the day, Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero said the impeachment trial against Duterte would not start until the upper chamber resumes session in June. 

Senate Secretary Renato Bantug Jr. earlier said there was a need for "complete staff work" to go over the articles–something that was not finished before the Senate adjourned.

Duterte has yet to comment on her impeachment but she earlier welcomed the filing of the complaints.

In a statement Wednesday, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, the brother of the Vice President, decried his colleagues' action against her sister as a sinister political attack.

The seven Articles of Impeachment against the Vice President include:

• Conspiracy to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. First Lady Liza Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez
• Malversation of P612.5 Million in confidential funds with questionable liquidation documents 
• Bribery and corruption in the Department of Education (DepEd) during Duterte’s tenure as Education chief by handing out cash to DepEd personnel namely: former DepEd Undersecretary Gloria Jumamil-Mercado (Procurement Head), Bids and Awards Committee Member Resty Osias, DepEd Chief Accountant Rhunna Catalan and Special Disbursing Officer Edward Fajarda
• Unexplained wealth and failure to disclose assets in the Vice President’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth where her wealth increased by four times from 2007 from 2017, among other bank accounts
• Involvement in extrajudicial killings in Davao city  
• Destabilization, insurrection, and public disorder efforts which include: boycotting the State of the Nation Address (SONA) while declaring herself “designated survivor”, leading rallies calling for President Marcos Jr.’s resignation, obstructing congressional investigations by ordering subordinates not to comply with subpoenas, threatening bodily harm against the President, First Lady, and Speaker Romualdez, among others and
• The totality of the Vice President’s conduct as the second highest official of the land.

—AOL/RSJ, GMA Integrated News