VP Sara Duterte on impeachment plan vs. Marcos: I don't expect anything to happen

DAVAO City —Vice President Sara Duterte on Saturday said she believes that the House of Representatives will not deal with the possible impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in the same manner as they handled the complaint against her.

In an ambush interview in Digos City, Duterte said she had no idea that former National Youth Commission chairperson Ronald Cardema and his wife Marie had a plan to file an impeachment complaint against Marcos, over the arrest and detention of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

She also said that she has not yet read the Articles of Impeachment against the President.

The Cardema couple failed to file the complaint as the Office of the House Secretary General Reginald Velasco was “closed” on Thursday, May 8. 

Regardless, Duterte said that she does not expect the lower chamber will act on the complaint seriously.

“Well, we don't expect that the House of Representatives will take it seriously because most of the members of the House of Representatives are allies of the President,” the Vice President said. 

“And an impeachment is a political exercise. It's a game of numbers. So, I don't expect anything to happen to that impeachment complaint,” she added. 

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

The Cardema couple had alleged that the Office of the House Secretary General did not receive their impeachment complaint against Marcos even if it was supposedly verified, being endorsed by Duterte Youth partylist lawmaker Ducielle Cardema.

Ducielle is the sister of Ronald, who serves as Duterte Youth's chairperson.

Velasco, in response, said their office was closed that day due to a strategic planning seminar attended by all the staff of the Office of the Secretary General. He said they will resume work on May 13.

Ronald Cardema said that the Articles of Impeachment against Marcos—culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust—”zeroed in on handing over a Filipino citizen to foreigners.”

Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in the Philippines by local authorities on March 11, based on a warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

He is currently detained at the Scheveningen Prison in The Hague for charges of crimes against humanity for the extrajudicial killings during his administration’s war on drugs. 

Malacañang has maintained that the former president’s arrest was legal, saying that criticisms against the government's role in the matter were baseless.—LDF, GMA Integrated News