MANILA, Philippines – With the impeachment complaint against Leni Robredo remaining an orphan at the House of Representatives, Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, president of the Liberal Party, doubts the ouster moves against the Vice President will fly.
In a statement issued Wednesday, May 3, Pangilinan dismissed the complaint delivered to the House of Representatives by lawyers led by Bruce Rivera on Tuesday as “completely baseless” as it was “pulled out of thin air.”
“Isang malaking hugot sa hangin at walang basehan ang impeachment laban kay Vice President Leni Robredo,” the senator said.
The complaint, which does not yet have a House member endorser, accuses Robredo among others of causing the “degradation of the country’s integrity” with her video message at the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, in which she spoke about the thousands of lives claimed by the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
Rivera said Robredo “dishonored” the Filipino people by erroneously claiming that 7,000 people had died in the drug war of the Duterte administration.
But Panglinan said that Robredo was just exercising her right to free speech in her video message to the UN.
“Clearly, free speech — in whatever way, inside or outside the country — is non-impeachable. In fact, this is protected by the Constitution,” he said.
“We are confident that the truth will prevail and ultimately the impeachment will be dismissed.”
“We call on the people to maintain vigilance and take action to prevent bullying, like this forced impeachment,” added Pangilinan.
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