Former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez is optimistic that former President Rodrigo Duterte is still capable of making a comeback to the country’s top post in the 2028 polls notwithstanding his advanced age.
Alvarez, a longtime ally of Duterte’s, said this was patently evident during the latter’s attendance at the nearly 14-hour grueling hearing of the House quad committee last week into his bloody drug war.
Besides, he said, there is nothing in the Constitution that prohibits Duterte from running again for president since the constitutional rule on reelection is limited solely to the incumbent chief executive.
“That should not apply to the former president who is no longer an incumbent. He can run again. You see, they grilled former President Duterte for 13 hours [but] he is still impregnable,” the Davao lawmaker said Monday.
“Let him run, let the people decide, and if there is a legal issue, let the courts resolve it,” he said.
Administration lawmakers House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V and Assistant Majority Leader Jefferson Khonghun, both staunch critics of Duterte and his family, wish the former president only the best of luck.
The 79-year-old Duterte is seeking to return as Davao City mayor, running against a former member of his Cabinet, Karlo Nograles.
Alvarez criticized his colleagues in the Quadcomm, saying that despite their relentless efforts to corner Duterte, “the hearing failed to yield any new or significant allegations.”
“Everything that President Duterte said he has said before. If there is a case, then file it. But there’s nothing, it’s just political theatrics,” Alvarez said.
The outspoken Duterte reiterated that the police must be spared from criminal liability because he alone was responsible for the massive killings during the war on drugs, regardless of whether they were legally or illegally executed.
He also told the Quadcomm — under oath — that he planted evidence and personally killed criminals during his decade-long stint as Davao City mayor.
Despite the gravity of his admissions, Duterte said he is undaunted by the International Criminal Court investigation into the alleged extrajudicial killings in the war on drugs or of the ICC possibly using his statements to prosecute him.
The Philippines under Duterte officially withdrew from the Rome Statute in March 2019. However, the ICC, which the statute created, asserted that it still retained jurisdiction over any potential crimes against humanity that happened prior to the country’s withdrawal.
The Quadcomm echoed the stance of the government that it would not cooperate with the ICC by submitting its records.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has since said the ICC has no business meddling in the Philippines. But Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin also said the government will neither object nor stop Duterte if he wants to surrender to the ICC.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) on Monday announced it has started its probe into Duterte’s drug war following his pronouncements in the quad comm.
Ortega and Khonghun said they would yield to the findings of the DoJ, which holds exclusive jurisdiction in the matter.