Marcos agrees with Enrile, pursuit of VP impeachment ‘poor timing’

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. agreed with his Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile that there would be consequences should an opinion of a minority influence the rule of law.

Earlier, Enrile aired his views on the National Rally for Peace organized by the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) last Monday, to which he was opposed.

The INC said it held the rally in support of Marcos’s opposition to the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Despite his opposing views, Marcos said Enrile is “one of the best legal thinkers in the country.”

“He is right, there is a consequence too, there will be a precedent, and it will be very problematic,” he said.

Enrile had asked if the religious group and its members could amend the Constitution, suspend any of its provisions, or “discard or sacrifice the value of the rule of law for a person or a group of persons.”

Marcos said Congress doesn’t have a choice if lawmakers backtrack from pursuing the impeachment complaints against the Vice President.

“Even if Congress is mandated to process these… Congress doesn’t have… the House doesn’t have a choice, and the Senate doesn’t have a choice once these impeachment complaints are filed,” he noted.

Marcos was a former member of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The President said that maybe now is not the time to tackle this topic, especially with the election period approaching.

“Well, I don’t think that now is the time to go through that. So I’m leaving this to… after all, as a practical matter, we are entering the campaign period. There are no congressmen, no senators because they are already campaigning. We will not be able to form a quorum,” he said.

“And so, as a practical matter, the timing is very poor,” he added.

Three impeachment complaints have been filed against Duterte in the House of Representatives.