Palace distances from impeachment complaint vs. VP Sara

FILE: Facade of the Malacañang Palace as seen from Pasig River. (Photo by Architect Jorge Ramos (d. 2015) for the underlying copyrighted work (Malacañang Palace). Image is by Official Gazette of the Philippines, originally uploaded on Commons by User:P-JR – Commons:File:Malacañang Palace (Cropped).jpg, Public Domain)

By Darryl John Esguerra, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – Malacañang on Tuesday said it has nothing to do with the impeachment complaint filed by a coalition of civil society leaders, sectoral representatives and advocates against Vice President Sara Duterte.

In a statement, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said the impeachment complaint is “clearly the complainants’ independent initiative.”

“The impeachment complaint filed in the House of Representatives by several private citizens is clearly the complainants’ independent initiative, and its endorsement the prerogative of any Member of the House of Representatives,” Bersamin said.

“The Office of the President has nothing to do with it. The President’s earlier statement on the matter is unambiguous,” he added.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. earlier discouraged lawmakers from pursuing the impeachment of Duterte, noting that it would be counterproductive and is just a waste of time.

The complaint filed on Monday was endorsed by Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña to the House of Representatives.

It cited culpable violation of the constitution, graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes as grounds for impeachment.

Duterte is in hot water due to alleged misuse of public funds of the Office of Vice President and the Department of Education, which she previously headed.