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Impeachment Complaint Against Duterte Junked

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Impeachment Complaint Against Duterte Junked 47 POLITICAL Impeachment complaint against Duterte junked The House of Representatives has formally dismissed the impeachment complaint filed by Magdalo Party- List Representative Gary Alejano against President Rodrigo Duterte. The President is now immune from any impeachment proceedings for a year. ith 217 affirmative votes, 4 negative votes, and no abstention, the lower house has approved WHouse Resolution (HR) 1015 or the “Resolution Dismissing the Verified Complaint-Affidavit filed by Rep. Alejano against Pres. Duterte.” Only opposition lawmakers Rep. Alejano, Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman, Ifguao Lone District Rep. Teddy Baguilat, and Akbayan Party-List Rep. Tom Villarin, who are all part of the House minority called the “Magnificent 7,” voted against the resolution. Rep. Alejano filed the impeachment complaint at the House on March 16, which was followed by his supplemental complaint on March 30. The Alejano complaint asserted that Pres. Duterte should be impeached on the grounds of culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, and commission of other high crimes. Charges levied against Pres. Duterte include the alleged 8,000 HR 1015 is based on Committee Report 257 of the House extra-judicial killings brought by the war against illegal drugs; Committee on Justice, chaired by Oriental Mindoro 2nd District Rep. the existence of the Davao Death Squad (DDS); hiring of 11,000 Reynaldo Umali. The panel unanimously junked the impeachment ghost employees in Davao; unexplained wealth amounting to complaint because it was “insufficient in substance”even if it is P2.207 billion; and his failure to assert the sovereign rights of “sufficient in form.” All 42 members of the panel who were present the country in its dispute over the West Philippine Sea, Benham during the hearing voted to declare the complaint “insufficient in Rise, and Panatag Shoal (see Impeachment complaint filed substance,” arguing that all allegations were based on hearsay. against Duterte, readied for Robredo, March 2017 Analyst). During the hearing, Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Fariñas In explaining his vote, Rep. Alejano argued that the grilled Rep. Alejano for filing a complaint in which he has no dismissal of the complaint demonstrates how the Congress “personal knowledge” or authentic records to support his claims. became an “accessory to the countless deaths in our Rep. Alejano noted that he had “personal knowledge” of these streets” and how it “shied away” from its constitutional allegations, as they were all culled from authentic records such duty to hold the President accountable for his actions. The lower house has approved HR 1015, junking the impeachment complaint against Pres. Duterte. Philippine ANALYST POLITICAL May-June 2017 48 POLITICAL The Alejano complaint was found to be sufficient in form butinsufficient in substance. The Malacañang welcomed the dismissal of the impeachment complaint. Pres. Duterte now has immunity from impeachment proceedings for a year. as online sources, newspaper reports, and other materials. On the contrary, staunch critic of Pres. Duterte and detained However, under Section 36, Rule 130 of the Revised Rules Senator Leila De Lima criticized the committee for railroading on Evidence, “personal knowledge” only refers to those facts the impeachment proceedings by dismissing it outright. Sen. De or information that are “derived from one’s own perception.” Lima argued that a legislator who files the complaint does not need Information, particularly those from secondary sources, do not to have “personal knowledge” of the articles of impeachment amount to personal knowledge and are considered as hearsay. similar to the Estrada and Corona impeachment cases. Rep. Fariñas argued that the person with “personal She further noted that the Alejano complaint complied with knowledge” of the allegations should be the complainant in the the criteria required to be considered “sufficient in substance.” case. He added that Rep. Alejano could be liable for perjury Citing the Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Proceedings in or an ethics violation at the House since he had sworn under the House, sufficiency in substance is met “if there is a recital oath that he had personal knowledge of the allegations, even of facts constituting the offense charged and determinative if he has none. The majority floor leader also asserted that the of the jurisdiction of the committee.” As such, the weight Justice committee cannot proceed with further deliberations and sufficiency of the evidence need not yet be determined. if the complaint is not backed up by sufficient documents The impeachment complaint is as good as dead at the since it will just turn the hearing into a “fishing expedition.” House of Representatives, as 267 out of the 292 lawmakers The rejection of the impeachment complaint was welcomed are allies of the President. From that figure, 121 legislators by the Duterte administration. Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto belong to the Duterte administration’s ruling party, the Abella reiterated that the complaint “was from rehashed, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban). trumped up charges aimed at undermining the duly constituted As per the Constitution, Pres. Duterte is now entitled government.” Usec. Abella refuted claims that the President to a 1-year immunity from impeachment proceedings. interfered with the proceedings, saying that he respects Congress Now that the brief impeachment hearing is over, the Congress as a co-equal branch of the government. Furthermore, Chief should now focus on enacting vital and critical reforms that are Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo exclaimed that badly needed by the country such as the comprehensive tax reform as predicted, the impeachment did not gain ground in the package, the freedom of information law, and the emergency House because it was just founded on hearsay. Atty. Panelo powers to address traffic and transportation crises. It’s not too added that the charges only served to tarnish the President’s certain they will, unless the President applies pressure to them. reputation and to “get the 3 minute of fame of the complainant.” Philippine ANALYST POLITICAL May-June 2017 POLITICAL 49 Duterte admin retains ‘very good’ rating The respondents gave the Duterte administration "good" ratings for the following: The most recent survey released by the Social Weather h Developing science and technology (+49), down by 1 point; Stations (SWS) revealed that public satisfaction with the h Fighting terrorism (+47), up by 6 points from +41; Duterte administration remained “very good.” However, the h Defending the country's territorial rights (+46), down by 8 poll showed lower satisfaction in the government’s efforts points from December's +54; in fighting crime, defending territorial rights, providing h Providing jobs (+43), down by 8 points; jobs, controlling inflation, and ensuring that no family will h Fighting crime (+41), down by 9 points; ever be hungry. h Eradicating graft and corruption (+39); According to the SWS’ survey for 1Q2017, 75% of h Solving the problem of extrajudicial killings (+37), down by the respondents said they were satisfied with the national 3 points from December's +40; government as compared to 9% who were not satisfied for h Reconciliation with communist rebels (+32), up by 2 points a net satisfaction score of +66. Some 16% of respondents than December's +30; were undecided. The poll was conducted from March 25 to h Foreign relations (+46); and 28. If the undecided are not considered, net satisfied is 88%. The administration’s net satisfaction rating for the first 3 months h Reconciliation with Muslim rebels (+33). of the year was 5 points higher than the +61 posted in 4Q2016. The administration received "moderate" ratings for the The Duterte administration’s+66 rating qualifies as following issues: “very good.” The SWS classifies net satisfaction ratings h Ensuring that no family will ever be hungry (+22), down by of at least +70 as “excellent;” +50 to +69 as “very good;” 12 points; +30 to +49, “good;” +10 to +29, “moderate;” +9 to -9, h Fighting inflation (+13), down by 12 points from December's “neutral;” -10 to -29, “poor;” -30 to -49, “bad;” -50 to "moderate” +12; -69, “very bad;” as well as -70 and below as “execrable.” h Recovering the "hidden wealth" stolen by former President The administration retained its "very good" rating Ferdinand Marcos and his cronies (+22), down by 2 points; and in "helping the poor" albeit lower by three points from the +66 score in the December 2016 survey. h Resolving the traffic problem (+21). Source: SWS Philippine ANALYST POLITICAL May-June 2017 4 50 POLITICAL Source: SWS 4 Philippine ANALYST POLITICAL May-June 2017 POLITICAL 51 PUBLIC SATISFACTION RATINGS (%) OF SELECTED LEADERS 90 80 78 70 66 60 56 50 43 40 36 30 20 10 10 0 Duterte Widodo Abe Merkel Trump May Source: SWS Philippine ANALYST POLITICAL May-June 2017 52 POLITICAL This is the first time that the SWS included “resolving CA rejects Lopez as DENR Secretary the traffic problem” in its government report card. The results of the SWS poll also revealed that satisfaction The bicameral Commission on Appointments (CA) rejected with the government’s performance rose across all regions. the ad interim appointment of Gina Lopez as Secretary of the In Mindanao, the president’s bailiwick, satisfaction with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). administration increased to +79 from +78 in December. The Ex-military Chief Roy Cimatu assumed her vacated post. administration received a net satisfaction of +67 in Visayas from +58 in the previous quarter. Satisfaction from Metro Manila After 3 confirmation hearings, the CA finally made its decision to rose by 9 points to +62 while Balance Luzon ‘s satisfaction reject the appointment of Gina Lopez, thereby ending her 10-month with the current administration grew by 4 points to +60. stint as the country’s environment chief.
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