TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte--House Assistant Majority Leader Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre has questioned the timing of Duterte Youth Party-list's floating of a draft impeachment complaint against President Marcos.
Duterte Youth Party-list played up its supposed filing of the first impeachment complaint against President Marcos on Thursday afternoon, May 8--a mere four days before the conduct of the mid-term elections.
Add to this the very limited time left in the 19th Congress, the remaining session days of which will take place between June 2 and 13. After that, it's back to square one for all measure filed in the House, including impeachment raps.
It's for these reasons that Acidre is raising eyebrows on the party-list's motive.
“Ang tanong ko lang ho sa impeachment may dalawang linggo na lang pagkabalik namin ng session, hindi ko ho alam kung may saktong oras pa (My only question about the impeachment is that we only have two weeks left when we return to session, and I don't know if there’s still enough time),” Acidre told Manila-based reporters in an ambush here on the sidelines of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD)-Tingog Party-list's grand rally for Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas "senatoriables".
As of the latest information, the House secretary-general's office has yet to officially receive the impeachment complaint
The complaint accuses President Marcos of treason for allegedly allowing the supposed “transfer” of former president Rodrigo Duterte, a Filipino citizen, to foreign powers, particularly the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Duterte is facing a charge of crimes against humanity before The Hague-based court in connection with his bloody anti-illegal drug campaign.
While the House leader has yet to receive the full text of the impeachment complaint, Acidre cautioned the public against using the issue as a political weapon, especially during a highly-charged election season.
“Hindi ko pa rin nababasa ‘yung impeachment pero kaduda-duda na ito ay ipa-file apat na araw bago ang eleksyon (I haven’t read the impeachment yet, but it’s suspicious that it is being filed just four days before the election),” Acidre said.
“Sana ho ang ating mga kababayan ay tingnan hindi po kandidato ang ating presidente at bakit kailangan po itong gawin sa kanya? (I hope our fellow citizens consider that the President is not a candidate, so why does this need to be done to him?),” he said of the Chief Executive, who had just reached the halfway point of his six-year Palace term.
The 300-strong House of Representatives is currently on break and will resume session in June 2.