A day after the lower house of Congress impeached Vice President Sara Duterte via an overwhelming number, President Marcos faced the media to make it clear that he neither had a hand in the impeachment, nor he gave lawmakers the guidance to do so.
Marcos has emphatically denied that he was involved in the efforts to oust his former ally, stressing that he cannot give such guidance to Congress, which was actually dominated by his allies.
"You give me far too much credit that I can tell congressmen to do this and to do that. I cannot. I do not give guidance to Congress. We are independent of each other," the President said in a press briefing in Malacañan on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 6.
"The Executive cannot have a hand in the impeachment. Walang role ang Executive sa impeachment (The Executive has no role in the impeachment)," Marcos stressed.
While he did not deny that they casually talk about such political topics, and he oftentimes, is asked for his opinion, the President said he does not intend to give orders such as impeaching an official.
"Of course, we talk to each other all kind of things, but hindi ko kayang sabihin gawin mo ito, gawin mo iyan. Hindi ko kayang gawin yun (I cannot tell them to do this, do that). And I don't even attempt to do that," he said.
"So, let's be very clear there that sure, when I'm talking to them, they ask my opinion. I give them my opinion but it's up to them to take it or not. You cannot call it guidance," he added.
He also maintained that he is against the impeachment, but said there is nothing that he can do now that the impeachment has been transmitted to the Senate.
'Not a defiance'
Marcos said he did not see the move of Congress to impeach Duterte as a defiance to his call not to file impeachment complaints against the Vice President, stressing that they were not the ones who filed the complaints.
However, on Wednesday, Feb. 5, the House members did so through the shortcut route, where 215 of them signed a fourth impeachment complaint containing a reported six articles of impeachment for the Vice President's ouster.
On the same day, the impeachment complaint reached the Senate which will stand as the impeachment court during the trial of Duterte. The senators will act as judges at the trial.
What the House did, Marcos pointed out, was their constitutional mandate to proceed with the impeachment complaints.
He did not see it as defiance, rather "they’re expressing what they feel to be right."
"I am sure that the parties that filed the impeachment cases felt strongly about it. And despite my importunings and expressing my opinion that we really – we’d rather not have the impeachment, they continued to do that," he said.
"So, it’s not defiance. Ganyan ang kanilang paniniwala. Sa kanilang paniniwala kailangan na kailangang gawin ito. Kahit na sinabi ko na: 'Sana huwag na. Hindi, hindi pwede, hindi naming pwedeng palampasin ito.' Ganoon ang thinking nila. So, tinuloy nila (That's their wisdom. They believe they have to do it even after telling them not to. But they must have thought they cannot let this go. So, they pushed through it)," the President explained.
Marcos to son, Rep. Sandro: Do your duty
Presidential son and Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos was the first to sign the impeachment complaint against Duterte on Wednesday. This, the President disclosed, was something he did not know.
But the President bared his son asked him about the looming impeachment and sought his opinion, to which the President responded with: Do your duty.
"Of course, he did. And I said – it’s very simple what I told him. And he said, you know the – “Mukhang magpipirmahan na. What’s your opinion? What I should do?” Marcos shared.
"And I told him, I said: The process has begun,” he added.
"The process has already begun. So, it’s your duty now to support that process. So, do your duty,” that’s what I told him. “Do your duty. You have to support the process. You are constitutionally mandated to carry out that process. And you’re a congressman, so do your duty,” that’s what I told him. I didn’t know he’ll be the first to sign though," Marcos further shared.
'I'm just an observer'
With the looming impeachment trial of his former runningmate in the 2022 elections at the Senate, Marcos said he was reduced to a mere spectator, reiterating that there is nothing he can do about it, nor his opinion would matter.
"From this point on, I'm just a very interested observer. But again, I don't appear. I will not be part of it. There will be no representation from the Executive. Why should there be? We leave it to Congress, now, specifically, the Senate, to exercise their own wisdom," Marcos said when asked whether he would reach out to the Senate on the next step in the impeachment process.
"It doesn't matter what I think at this point. It will have to go through the procedure. They will go through trial. We will have Senator-judges and they will hear the case. The prosecutors come from the House. There will be a defense panel. It doesn't matter what I think at this point," he added.
He also said: "I don't think you can expect the congressman or the senator, the Senate President or the Speaker to come to me, oh what do you want us to do? They know and they have their own way of doing things and that's what they will implement."
Marcos, however, said the Senate can request to do a special session to impeach Duterte, although they have not made any request as of Thursday, saying it was still too early to ask for it.
The Chief Executive also said he does not see the impeachment of the second highest official in the country to have an impact on the country's economy as long as the administration's initiatives continue.
"I doubt it very much. Hindi naman siguro. Wala akong nakikitang magiging effect (Perhaps, none. I do not see any effect)," he said.