While President Marcos is firm on his opposition to the filing of impeachment cases against Vice President Sara Duterte, he agreed with his chief legal counsel Juan Ponce Enrile's opinion that the county may face "very detrimental precedent" if the Iglesia Ni Cristo's implied logic in their peace rally is followed.
Marcos even said it would be "very problematic," backing Enrile's statement that the county would potentially face long-term consequences for discarding the rule of law, including the legal process to impeach a government official if there is evidence to support it.
"JPE (Juan Ponce Enrile) is one of our best legal thinkers in our country. And he is right, there is a consequence, there will be a precedent and it will be very problematic," Marcos said in an interview on the sidelines of the turnover of housing units to Yolanda victims in Burauen, Leyte on Friday, Jan. 17.
"But I still think even if Congress is mandated to process this, the House doesn't have a choice, the Senate doesn't have a choice once these impeachment complaints are filed but I don't think now is the time to go through that," Marcos added.
It came as a reiteration of his stand on the impeachment raps against his former ally that it would be a waste of time to impeach her as it will not make any difference to even one single Filipino.
The President also said that the timing of the impeachment complaints was "very poor," considering that the campaign period is ongoing. The Congress will not be able to form a quorum anyway, he added.
In an earlier statement, Enrile said there is a bigger question in the INC's peace rally, although the INC has clarified that the rally was not political and has nothing to do with the impeachment raps filed against the Vice President.
The chief legal counsel stressed that "impeachment is just a constitutional legal process to remove a government official from his office if there is a ground and evidence to support it." He questioned whether the Philippines is prepared to discard or sacrifice the value of the Rule of Law for a person or a group of persons.
He further stressed that the impeached official is not going to jail by the mere fact of his impeachment.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Wednesday, Jan. 16, reacted to Enrile's views, saying while the President does not support the impeachment efforts against Duterte, he is seriously considering Enrile's opinion.
"The President has always nurtured a culture of open ventilation of ideas within the Cabinet," Bersamin said, adding that Enrile's thoughts "may carry weight and are always valued," his views are "one of many that the President seriously considers."
"Nonetheless, the President’s stand on the issue concerned remains unchanged," the Executive Secretary said.