PBBM ON SARA IMPEACHMENT: Storm in a teacup

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. yesterday confirmed the veracity of the text message he sent to members of Congress not to file an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.

“Well, it was actually a private communication pero na leak na (but it was leaked). Yes, because that’s really my opinion. This is not important. This does not make a difference to even one single Filipino life. So why waste time on it,” Marcos told reporters.

Despite Duterte’s death threat against him, the First Lady, and the Speaker of the House, Marcos said he ordered a stop to any impeachment move the congressmen might be considering against the Vice President as it would just “tie down” both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

In his text message, Marcos said Duterte was “unimportant” in the “larger scheme of things.”

“So please do not file an impeachment complaint. It will only distract us from the real work of governance, which is to improve the lot of all Filipinos,” Marcos said.

He said the people would not benefit from an impeachment.

“What will happen to them if somebody files an impeachment? It will just take up all of our time and for what? For nothing, for nothing. None of this will help improve a single Filipino life,” he said.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a storm in a teacup,” he added.

Never say never

Asked if he had reached the point of no return in his relationship with Duterte, Marcos said, “Never say never.”

Last weekend, Duterte said in a viral midnight press conference that she had instructed someone to kill Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez were she to be killed herself.

The National Bureau of Investigation summoned her to its headquarters on Friday to explain her remarks but she did not appear.

In a letter from her lawyer, Duterte explained that she learned too late that the House inquiry into the Office of the Vice President’s budget scheduled the same day had been canceled.

NBI Director Jaime Santiago said the Vice President will be asked to appear at the bureau on 11 December.

Lawyer Paul Lawrence Lim, Duterte’s counsel, asked the NBI for a copy of the complaint, including all attachments and questions that will be asked of her.

Duterte will be investigated for alleged grave threats in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and possible violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

After the backlash from her threats, Duterte said her remarks were “maliciously taken out of logical context.”

Threat against VP

Santiago said they will also investigate the supposed threat to Duterte’s life. “We will ask her, who is your suspect? Do you have any evidence?”

The NBI will issue subpoenas to between 10 and 12 individuals who participated in Duterte’s Saturday press conference where she made her threat.

“We have identified them. We will issue subpoenas and ask them to shed light on what happened. They asked her questions, things like that,” Santiago said.

Impeachment to continue

The long-suspected attempt to impeach Vice President Duterte was scheduled to roll in December, a House minority leader confirmed Friday, notwithstanding President Marcos’ advice to Congress that it would be a “waste of time.”

House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro, a staunch critic of the VP, said Bayan Muna will lodge the impeachment complaint next month, which the Makabayan bloc will endorse regardless of Marcos’s appeal to stop any efforts that will only impede the legislative work.

“Bayan Muna [is drafting the impeachment complaint]. If we could finish [it because] there are [multi-sectoral] signatories apart from Bayan, I think it may be filed before the year ends,” Castro said in Filipino.

“The President has no say if Makabayan will carry on with the endorsement of the impeachment,” she added.

The power to impeach rests solely with the House of Representatives, but a Filipino citizen could file an impeachment complaint, which should be endorsed by a member of the lower chamber.

To advance in the Senate, at least one-third of House members should vote in favor of it. This is equivalent to 106 members of the current House.

The impeachment of Duterte has long been the talk of the town, with the VP claiming this was in the guise of the ongoing inquiry in the House on her expenditure of millions of pesos in confidential funds.

Her recent “threat” to have the President, First Lady Liza, and Speaker assassinated just added fuel to the fire. Duterte later said her statement was “maliciously taken out of logical context.”

Separation of powers

The Makabayan bloc castigated Marcos for “intervening” and “influencing” members of the House, asserting that this was a blatant violation of the separation of powers.

“The President’s blatant meddling in congressional proceedings is troubling. Malacañang should not dictate how Congress will carry out its mandate to hold corrupt officials accountable,” the Makabayan bloc — the Gabriela, ACT Teachers, and Kabataan partylists — said in a joint statement.

“Such a move shows weak leadership in the face of corruption, death threats and a blatant disrespect of the House of Representatives,” it added.

Bayan Muna chairperson Teddy Casino said, “It is improper for him (Marcos) to dismiss efforts to hold (Duterte) accountable through this process. In fact, not doing so is a betrayal of the public interest and the people’s trust. Discouraging impeachment would seem the President is still hoping to rekindle their alliance.”

Although House leaders have repeatedly implied that Duterte’s actions, such as her “mismanagement” of funds, betrayal of public trust, and “active threat” against the Marcoses and the Speaker were highly impeachable offenses, they insisted there was no brewing talk to oust her.

“We have been saying for a long time that there is no order or discussion in the House of Representatives on the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte,” assistant majority leader Jefferson Khonghun told reporters in a virtual briefing on Friday.

“Our Vice President is only paranoid because she knows there is really a violation, especially in the use of confidential funds of her office and the Department of Education,” he added.

To recall, Duterte accused Romualdez of instigating the probe into alleged irregularities in the utilization of P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP (P500 million) and the DepEd (P112.5 million) in 2022 and 2023 because of the House chief’s presidential ambition in 2028.

Romualdez, however, shot back, saying such allegations were a patent attempt to divert the public’s attention from the mounting issues leveled against Duterte.

Duterte and Romualdez have been at odds since mid-2023 after the Romualdez-led House realigned her multi-million-peso request for confidential funds to security and intel agencies.

While Marcos’ marching order to the members of the House was clear as a day, Khonghun said impeachment complaints initiated outside the halls of Congress are beyond their control.

Graft and corruption and betrayal of public trust are among the grounds that Congress could cite to impeach a high-ranking official, including the VP, in addition to culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, and other high crimes.

There is no explicit provision of executive immunity for the President and Vice President under the 1987 Constitution.

However, in the landmark case of Leila de Lima vs. Rodrigo Duterte in October 2019, the Supreme Court ruled the President may not be sued and cannot be investigated for any criminal offense while in office.

In 2021, several prominent lawyers said this privilege did not extend to the Vice President, leaving him or her open to criminal charges while in office.

Veteran election lawyer Romulo Macalinatal contended the VP did not enjoy immunity considering that they are both impeachable officials.