Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has confirmed that he has discouraged some lawmakers from filing an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte, a move that he thinks will not benefit ordinary Filipinos.
There have been talks about impeaching Duterte over the alleged misuse of funds by her office, the subject of an ongoing congressional probe. The impeachment proposal garnered more traction last week after the vice president publicly threatened the president on social media.
The Marcos-Duterte tandem succeeded in dominating the 2022 election, which led to the formation of a “unity” government. But two years later, the alliance fell apart with Duterte resigning from her Cabinet post aside from frequently criticizing the “incompetence” and “lazy” leadership of Marcos. Duterte’s brother also called for the resignation of Marcos, while her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, has appealed to the police and military to take action by withdrawing support from a “drug-dependent” president.
But in a media interview, Marcos rejected the call to impeach the vice president. “This is not important,” he said. “This does not make any difference to even one single Filipino life. So, why waste time on this?”
He added that the impeachment would distract the attention of Congress from focusing on the country’s main problems. “It will tie down the House, it will tie down the Senate. It will just take up all our time and for what? For nothing, for nothing. None of this will help improve a single Filipino life,” he said.
He also seemingly downplayed his feud with the Dutertes, describing it as “a storm in a teacup.”
This remark was quite surprising considering his combative tone when he responded to the threats made by Duterte. His executive secretary even issued a strongly-worded statement accusing Duterte’s father of being “irresponsible” for agitating the country’s security forces.
“No motive is more selfish than calling for a sitting president to be overthrown so that your daughter can take over,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement. “And he (Duterte) will go to great and evil lengths, such as insulting our professional Armed Forces by asking them to betray their oath, for his plan to succeed.”
Marcos’s stance on the impeachment issue elicited various reactions. Senator Jinggoy Estrada, a Duterte supporter, welcomed the president’s statement. “Impeachment will only sow divisiveness and distract us from the urgent and pressing issues we must collectively address,” he said.
Some House leaders clarified that the anti-corruption probe they are conducting is not meant to impeach the vice president. However, they also explained that the House “has a constitutional duty to act on impeachment complaints filed by ordinary citizens.”
“Should an impeachment complaint be properly filed in accordance with the rules, the House is obligated to deliberate on it fairly and transparently, ensuring that the process adheres to the highest standards of justice,” they said.
Meanwhile, the leftist Makabayan bloc in Congress described the statement of Marcos as an “undue executive interference in legislative affairs.”
“The House leadership must demonstrate its independence and take a firm stand based on evidence and public interest, not on the President’s preferences. Congress should not allow itself to become a rubber stamp of the executive branch,” the group said.
Duterte supporters may interpret the public pronouncements of Marcos as proof that there’s no solid basis for impeaching the vice president. But anti-Duterte groups may also claim that Marcos is against the impeachment in the same way that he has also opposed the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating former President Duterte’s bloody “war on drugs.” Marcos has consistently opposed the ICC probe but his government has recently affirmed its willingness to indirectly assist the body through Interpol. The government will also not block the ICC if the former president is willing to cooperate with the prosecution, Marcos has said.
By publicly announcing his views on the plan to unseat the vice president, Marcos may be trying to deflect criticism from Duterte loyalists once an impeachment petition is filed in Congress.
Whether Marcos is sincere or not in opposing the impeachment of Duterte, the prospect of successfully pursuing this process remains uncertain since the election campaign will already start in February. There’s also no assurance that a conviction can be obtained from the Senate.
This doesn’t mean that Duterte is already off the hook. As mentioned earlier, Marcos cannot stop the opposition and even his allies from filing and endorsing an impeachment petition against Duterte. The vice president also faces several criminal complaints in relation to the controversial remarks she made on social media.
There may be a partial easing of political tension but the political rift between the Marcos and Duterte camps is certainly not over. More importantly, various stakeholders continue to demand accountability and justice over the anomalous expenses made by the country’s top officials.