Palace: Quo warranto vs Duterte filed in wrong venue

FILE: “The Constitution says that all controversies for the President and the Vice President must be filed in the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET),” he added. (SIMEON CELI JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)

The quo warranto petition lodged by the lawyer and former nuisance presidential candidate Elly Pamatong against President Rodrigo Duterte would not succeed as it was filed before the wrong venue, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said.

“I think it’s a far-shot. I think it’s not the right venue to begin with because the President is an elective official,” Roque said in a press briefing on Thursday, July 5.

“The Constitution says that all controversies for the President and the Vice President must be filed in the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET),” he added.

In his petition filed before the Supreme Court (SC) on June 6, Pamatong claimed that Duterte’s certificate of candidacy (COC) during the 2016 presidential elections was ‘illegal.’

The suspended lawyer said Duterte ran for president without a certificate of candidacy (COC) approved by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

However, the Comelec en banc, in December 2015, accepted Duterte’s COC and his substitution for Interior Undersecretary Martin Diño, who was the former presidential candidate of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipinas-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).

Responding to the pleading, the President said he would be ‘happy’ to step down from his post if the SC votes in favor of the petition.

“Kung warranto, delikado rin ako kay Pamatong. Patong-patong ‘yang problema natin pero sige lang (If it is a quo warranto, then I’m also in danger with Pamatong. My problems will pile up but it is fine),” Duterte said in a speech during the 117th anniversary celebration of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on Tuesday in Pasay City.

“Kung hanggang diyan lang ako (If this is how far I go), I live my destiny. Kung pabalikin mo ako (If you want me to return), I really do not know. I would not want to betray also those who have kept faith in me. Pero gusto kong sabihin na kung ‘yan lang takot-takotin ako ng oust, kaligaya ko na lang (But I just want to say to those who are threatening to oust me, I would be happy),” he added.