Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II said yesterday President Duterte cannot be impeached over his public statement in favor of the policemen who are suspected of liability in the killing last month of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa.
Aguirre said the President did not commit any culpable violation of the Constitution or betrayal of public trust that would warrant an impeachment proceeding.
“What is impeachable about it? What trust did the President betray?” he said in an interview.
Aguirre pointed out that the statement made by the President was part of the Chief Executive’s right to freedom of expression.
The Justice Secretary reacted to statements issued by Senators Leila de Lima and Antonio F. Trillanes IV who claimed that the President could be impeached for publicly saying that he would not allow the policemen linked to the Espinosa killing to go to jail.
The President was quoted as saying “I will not allow these guys (referring to the members of the Criminal
Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police) to go to prison, even if the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) says it was murder. After all, the NBI is under me (and also) the Department of Justice (DoJ).”
“They’re just making a big issue from it. If you examine the President’s statement, he merely exercised his freedom of expression,” Aguirre said. (Rey G. Panaligan)