President Duterte has said he would not personally go after Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista who has resigned effective Dec. 31 and impeached by the House of Representatives.
According to Duterte, there may be corruption allegations hurled against Bautista but he is not into the habit of going after people.
“I am not into the habit of ‘yung manghabol ng…Pangit ‘yang practice na ‘yan, ‘yang i-demanda lahat ng,” Duterte said.
Duterte had said that he would not also go after his predecessor President Benigno S. Aquino III about the Mamasapano clash in Maguindanao in 2015 in which 44 members of the Special Action Force were killed.
Duterte said he does not agree with the House move to impeach the Comelec chair but he thinks the removal of Bautista would actually be better.
“But what was on my mind really was, kung mawala itong Bautista na ‘to, eh ‘di mas maayos. Wala na ‘yung gulo,” he said. “Basta ang ano ko lang, the earlier mawala ito, the better,” Duterte said.
Duterte reiterated that he has no prior knowledge that the House of Representatives would overturn the House Justice Committee decision and impeach Bautista hours after announcing his resignation.
“I remember distinctly, ‘ni hindi ko natanggap ‘yung ano, notice or nobody told me that you are resuming with the impeachment process,” he said.
“I don’t know if you can still impeach him or not because by resigning, he has removed himself from office.” (Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos)