VP Sara says ousting Romualdez 'irrelevant'

Vice President Sara Duterte shrugged off the supposed memorandum recommending the removal of Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, which she described as "irrelevant."

“I don’t think that is relevant right now dahil the damage has been done. Ang laki na ng pagkakamali at korapsyon na ginawa nila sa budget natin,” Duterte said in an ambush interview in Cagayan de Oro City on Wednesday.

(I don’t think that is relevant right now because the damage has been done. There was corruption, and lots of mistakes were made to our budget.) 

“So palitan man natin si House Speaker Romualdez, hindi na natin maibabalik 'yung pera na nawala dahil sa korapsyon,” she added.

(So even if we replace House Speaker Romualdez, we won't be able to get back the money that was lost due to corruption.) 

GMA News Online has comment from Romualdez, but he has yet to reply as of posting time.

Palace Press Officer Atty. Claire Castro had already dismissed as fake news the supposed memorandum ordering intensified operations to boost the ratings of the Marcos administration and recommending the ouster of Romualdez.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who allegedly signed the document, also said his office categorically denies the authenticity of the memorandum.

To recall, the House of Representatives impeached Duterte on February 5, with over 200 lawmakers endorsing the complaint. She was accused of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the constitution, graft and corruption and other high crimes.

Duterte has since filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with urgent application of temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction before the Supreme Court.

She asserted that the House committed grave abuse of discretion by "deliberately" freezing action on the first three impeachment complaints, then violated the constitutionally mandated one-year ban when the fourth complaint was signed by the chamber's majority. —VAL, GMA Integrated News