Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial candidates Vicente "Tito" Sotto III and Panfilo "Ping" Lacson can see through the attempt file an impeachment complaint against President Marcos as if it was sheer fabric.
In a recent press conference, Sotto and Lacson dismissed this stunt by administration critic Duterte Youth Party-List as nothing but a political maneuver meant to smear Marcos just days before the mid-term elections.
"So obvious na may koneksyon sa eleksyon. Naninira sa eleksyon, ganoon lang ‘yon (It's obviously connected to the elections. It's a smear tactic in the elections, that's it)," Sotto, a former Senate President, said.
Representing Duterte Youth Party-list, Ronald Cardema and his wife Marie tried--but failed to file an impeachment complaint against President Marcos at the House of Representatives last Thursday, May 8--just four days before the polls.
House Secretary General Reginald Velasco wasn't around to receive the ouster petition, which cited as ground the surrender of former president Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
"I’m not defending the President ‘no pero ‘yong the act itself na mag-file ng impeachment complaint na walang basehan kita mo kung ano ‘yong motive. Siyempre, politika (I'm not defending the President but the act itself of filing a baseless impeachment complaint betrays it's own motive. It's politics, of course)," said Lacson, also a former senator.
Sotto said that even if they Cardemas were able to properly file the impeachment complaint against Marcos, it was "obvious" that it wouldn't prosper given that the current 19th Congress has very few session days left.
He sarcastically advised the couple to do a better job in masking their motive.
"Sobrang obvious kasi wala namang mangyayari June 2 to June 13. Anong mangyayari doon? Baka pagpipirma pa lang ng mga ika-nga pag-submit matagal na. Hintay na lang sila ng July para hindi halatang sa eleksyon pala ang target," he said.
(It's very obvious that nothing will happen during session days from June 2 to June 13. What will happen then? The signing and submission will take time. They should wait for July so that it's not obvious that their target is the elections.)
President Marcos is the main endorser of the 11-person Alyansa slate.
Lacson underscored the flimsy nature of Duterte Youth Party-List's impeachment complaint.
"Wala akong makitang basehan ‘no. Kasi maliwanag naman sa Saligang Batas kung ano ‘yong impeachable offenses laban sa mga impeachable officials ‘di ba? Culpable violation of the Constitution--nasaan ang culpable violation of the Constitution? Graft and corruption--hindi ko makita kung ano ‘yong basehan," he said.
("I don’t see any basis for it. The Constitution clearly outlines the impeachable offenses for impeachable officials, right? Culpable violation of the Constitution—where is the culpable violation of the Constitution? Graft and corruption—I don’t see what the basis is.)