Marcos says VP Sara Duterte should attend impeachment trial

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sunday said Vice President Sara Duterte should attend the impeachment trial against her, which is set to begin on Monday, July 6.

“Of course, it would be much easier to get to the bottom of everything if you [could] speak to the accused directly,” Marcos said during the Kapihan with the Media in Vancouver, Canada, before returning to Manila.

“And the accused can answer directly, not through secondary channels, not through the lawyers. If the accused can respond directly, of course, the process will become clearer and easier,” he added.

Marcos served as a senator-judge during the 2012 impeachment trial of former Supreme Court chief justice Renato Corona.

However, the President clarified that his remarks were merely his personal view and not a legal opinion.

“But that’s just my own opinion and that’s not a legal opinion because I’m not a lawyer,” Marcos said.

Marcos said that if he were in Duterte’s position, he would personally choose to appear before the impeachment court and answer the allegations himself, even if his lawyers advised against it.

“But if I’m just trying to put myself in that position, I would probably, myself, if it was me being accused, almost insist — even over the advice of lawyers," he said.

"If they advised me not to appear, I would insist on appearing. Kasi kaya ko naman sagutin, sige sagutin natin,” the President added.

The Senate impeachment court has summoned Duterte to appear at the formal opening of her impeachment trial on July 6.

In a notice dated July 2, Duterte was directed to appear before the impeachment court pursuant to Rule 7 of the Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials and in accordance with the writ of summons issued against her on May 19.

The trial will initially be held weekly from Monday to Wednesday at 2 p.m. until Marcos’ fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 27. After the SONA, proceedings will shift to Tuesdays to Thursdays at 2 p.m.

‘We are not done yet’

During his fourth SONA last year, Marcos warned government officials involved in corruption, particularly those linked to flood control projects, that they would face legal consequences.

Asked about his administration’s progress in combating corruption, Marcos said there is still much work to be done.

“Well, I cannot say that we have done enough because we are not done yet. Unfortunately, the more we look, the more we find,” he said.

“And it is going already back beyond my administration, beyond my term,” he added.

Marcos said problems in flood control projects had already been acknowledged by the previous administration but were not acted upon.

“And back to about that time, 2017 to 2018, President Duterte acknowledged that there were great problems in terms of flood control projects. Pero wala namang nangyari,” he said.

“Having acknowledged it, it did not find accountability in anybody. So I guess that was left up to me to do. And so we are still doing it. We’re still working on it,” Marcos added.

Responding to allegations of selective justice, Marcos said it was his administration that exposed the irregularities.

“I’m the one who exposed all of this,” he said.

Marcos said it was his administration that first took concrete action against irregularities in flood control projects.

“And I’m the only one [who] has started to do anything about this. Bakit ang mga nakaraang Pangulo, nakita pa kayong ginawang gano’n? Meron ba silang ikinulong? Meron ba silang pi-freeze na account? Meron ba silang mga investigation na ginawa? Wala. Sa akin lang,” he said.

(Why is it that under previous Presidents, you did not see things like that? Did they jail anyone? Did they freeze accounts? Did they conduct investigations? None. It only happened under my administration.)

“Tapos sasabihin, ako daw ang may kagagawan. Eh kung talagang raket ko yun, ba’t ko sisiraan yung raket ko? Di ba? That makes absolutely no sense,” he added,

(And then they say I’m behind it. If it were really my racket, why would I destroy it? That makes absolutely no sense.)—MCG, GMA News