Solicitor General Jose Calida said yesterday that House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has basis for the plan to file an impeachment complaint against Vice President Leni Robredo over her video message to the United Nations Commission on Narcotics Drugs.
In an interview, Calida branded as a “treasonous act” Robredo’s video message where she criticized President Duterte on his war against illegal drugs and claimed that over 7,000 persons have died in extrajudicial killings by policemen and vigilantes.
“VP Robredo debased her office and herself by betraying the trust of our people. Worse, she shamelessly pandered to the desperate desire of Yellow Cult to depose President Duterte, which if successful, will immensely benefit her.
Obviously, the carping VP Robredo has joined the ranks of the destabilizers,” he said.
He stressed and agreed with Alvarez that Robredo “should be rightfully condemned for slandering and selling out our country and its leaders before the UN.”
Robredo’s video message, posted by the DRCNet Foundation on YouTube last March 13, was played at the “Human Rights Challenge: Responding to Extrajudicial Killings in the Drug War,” a side session for the 60th United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs annual meeting last March 16 at the Vienna International Center in Austria.
Robredo had said her statement before the UN on extrajudicial killings was “very factual” and based on personal stories from the families of the victims who sought help and protection from her office.
“In fact, we tried to ask data from the Department of Interior and Local Governments and the Philippine National Police as early as January but our letter was not answered,” she said. (Rey G. Panaligan)