Malacanang said yesterday that any impeachment complaint against President Duterte will not slip past the administration “supermajority” in Congress, amid reports some groups might make such attempt at the opening of the 18th Congress on Monday.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said while filing an impeachment against the President was nothing new, he expressed confidence it would not prevail when reviewed by the administration allies.
“Halos every administration naman ginagawa ng mga militante iyan, hindi na bago iyan at kung anuman iyong mga impeachment complaint na kanilang isusumite diyan sa Kongreso, iyan naman ay haharapin din ng…at pag-aaralan din ng mga congressman,” Andanar said.
“I’m pretty certain that with the super majority ay hindi makakalusot iyan,” he added.
The President earlier said he would send to jail critics of his West Philippine Sea policy if they would try to impeach him. He insisted that he has done nothing unconstitutional when he claimed China cannot be stopped from fishing in the country’s waters out of friendship.
Recently, he explained the country owns the West Philippine Sea but China has been merely granted “traditional fishing rights” in the area. A fishing arrangement was also reached between Duterte and Chinese Xi Jinping to ease the tension in the disputed territory.
Malacanang had earlier said any person or group planning to file an impeachment case against Duterte should take a “reality check” to avoid embarrassment since such baseless complaint will likely not prosper. (Genalyn Kabiling)