Malacañang yesterday maintained that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s stand against the impeachment raps filed against Vice President Sara Duterte remains unchanged.
This came a day after the religious group Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) held a National Peace Rally in support of the President’s decision to oppose the Vice President’s impeachment.
In a message to Palace reporters, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said that Marcos has not changed his mind regarding the impeachment complaints against the Vice President.
“The President’s position on the impeachment move in the HoR (House of Representatives) has not changed,” Bersamin said.
There are three impeachment complaints lodged against Duterte for the alleged misuse of public funds.
The House of Representatives have verified the filed impeachment complaints and are ready for transmission anytime.
Marcos stressed that looking into the impeachment complaints are “unimportant” and a “waste of time.” He added that it would only tie down Congress instead of governing and helping Filipinos.
In the 2022 elections, Marcos and Duterte have joined forces forming the UniTeam banner running for the highest government positions. The two received the endorsement of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, guaranteeing at least 2 million votes in “bloc voting.”
Two years later, the political alliance disbanded as Duterte left the administration after she resigned from the Department of Education, leaving the Cabinet.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said the recent INC rally will not affect the probe of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) into the supposed threat made by Vice President Duterte against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other personalities.
The SoJ said he don’t think so because they just have to look at the law as something that equalizes everything between all of them.
“That’s why we cannot give special favors to people because of standing,” Remulla said.
As per the police estimate, the rally drew more than a million people nationwide which was meant to support Marcos’ stance against impeaching Duterte.
Remulla also said he is not concerned about the intentions of the rally as the participants have the freedom to express themselves.
“I’m not concerned about that because it’s their freedom. They have the freedom to express themselves and we respect that freedom. We guard that freedom zealously,” he said.
The SoJ said that the NBI will submit its report to the Department of Justice soon.
“Of course, we have to look at it from the merit standpoint. The merits of the case or cases,” Remulla said.
The NBI investigated Duterte for alleged grave threats in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and possible violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 following her alleged kill order against the President, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez.
