By Jeffrey Damicog
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Friday he had no problem with any impeach complaint that will be filed against President Rodrigo Duterte.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra
(TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
“Anyone is free to file an impeachment complaint against the President,” he told reporters.
On the other hand, the Secretary reminded that “unlike an ordinary action in court, impeachment is not a strictly legal proceeding.”
“It involves a whole gamut of political, economic, and other considerations,” he noted.
“In the end the question is, did the president act against the general interest of the entire Filipino nation,” Guevarra pointed out.
Talks of an impeachment complaint against Duterte erupted after the President welcomed the idea of allowing China to fish within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The statement was made in response to the incident at the Recto Bank where a Filipino fishing vessel was sunk after being hit by a Chinese vessel.
Among the President’s critics, former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said the statements of Duterte could be a basis for impeachment.
“The Constitution states that the president and the military must secure the national territory, and the national territory includes the exclusive economic zone,” del Rosario was quoted during a recent television interview.
“To violate that is really a basis for impeachment, he can be impeached,” he stressed.