President Marcos is not blocking the attempts to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, he was only stating his opinion over the matter.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin made the statement on Friday, Jan. 24, when sought for a comment on Makabayan Bloc's accusation that the President is deliberately blocking the impeachment complaints against Duterte.
Bersamin pointed out that Marcos' remarks on the impeachment raps against his former ally was "only an opinion" and that perhaps he was thinking that the process might distract him from his administration's agenda or its moves forward.
He said that the President cannot categorically tell the lower house that he is in favor or not with the impeachment because it is the prerogative of the Congress given that the impeachment must emanate from the lower house.
"Now, if the President has made the statement at all, about that process, it is only an opinion that he stated because he probably the thinking of the President is that might be distracting us from our agenda or our move forward," Bersamin said in a press briefing on the sidelines of the 2025 Budget Execution Forum.
"But we do not say to the lower house, because we cannot dictate on the lower house. It is co-equal—belongs to a co-equal branch of government. All we were saying, the President was saying to the lower house, this is my position, but he is not blocking, he is not blocking he cannot do that," Bersamin added.
He also said that if they decide to initiate the impeachment, "there is no way of preventing that."
The Executive Secretary further said that they cannot dictate other branches of the government.