Inihain kahapon ng isang party-list congressman sa House of Representatives ang pinakaunang impeachment complaint laban kay Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte.
Isinumite ni Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano sa Office of the Secretary General ang 16-pahinang complaint.
Inakusahan ni Alejano ang Pangulo ng culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption at ibang pang krimen.
Iginiit niya na hindi destabilisasyon ang kanyang pakay sa paghain ng complaint, at ito ay isang legal na proseso.
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Agad binatikos ni Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez ang ginawa ni Alejano.
Dating Marine captain si Alejano na ngayon ay kasama sa tinaguriang “Magnificent Seven” opposition bloc sa Kamara.
“Alam naman po natin na medyo tabingi yung inihain na impeachment complaint,” patuloy ni Alvarez.
“As a lawyer, madaling magsulat ng culpable violation of the Constitution, but to prove it is another thing...the charges are fabricated, they seem to believe their own lies,” sabi niya.
“Kaya sinabi kong stupidity dahil nga hindi na kailangang pag-usapan eh. Dahil wala talagang basehan. At pagka walang basehan eh di walang patutunguhan di ba?” aniya.
Sinabi ni Alvarez na para umusad ang impeachment complaint, “kailangan na sufficient in form and substance bago yan pumunta sa plenary.”
Sinabi naman ni Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II na pawang mga alegasyon ang nilalaman ng complaint.
“Mere allegations without proof are not evidence,” sabi ni Aguirre.
“The allegations in the complaint are not anchored on concrete or solid evidnce that would support findngs of any of the enumerated grounds for impeachment,” paliwanag niya.
Kampante naman si Solicitor General Jose Calida na hindi uusad ang complaint.
“They must be dreaming. They are not even in the league of Don Quixote,” sabi ni Calida.
Ngunit para kay Senador Panfilo Lacson, bahagi ng demokratikong proseso at ng Saligang Batas ang pagsampa ng impeachment complaint laban kay Duterte at dapat itong igalang at irespeto.
“Magdalo party-list ‘should not be criticized much less mocked’ for filing a complaint against the President as they are only abiding by the constitutional process of unseating a chief executive “At least this time they are not engaging in another Oakwood type of adventure. Now, whether or not the move will get the one-third votes of congressmen required to impeach the president is another matter,” ani Lacson.
Wala naman dahilan para magsampa ng impeachment complaint at magkaiba raw ang sitwasyon ngayon sa panahon ni dating Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, ayon kay Senator JV Ejercito.
“We swore an oath to uphold and defend the constitution and as such we must respect our constitutional processes whether we agree with it or not, whether we like the outcome or not,” pahayag ni Senador Francis Pangilinan.
(Genalyn D. Kabiling Ellson Quismorio at Leonel Abasola)
