House of Representatives. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� No funds or allocations were promised for House of Representatives members who signed听and endorsed the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte, lawmakers said on Thursday.
During a press conference at the Batasang Pambansa complex, 1-Rider party-list Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez 鈥� a member of the prosecution panel 鈥� said they held the briefing as they expected a lot of misinformation and disinformation to go around with Duterte鈥檚 impeachment.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we held this press conference because we understand with the events of yesterday, a lot of misinformation and disinformation will be spreading around.听 Categorically 鈥� we鈥檙e going to, I don鈥檛听 it actually dignifies this 鈥� but we鈥檙e going to have to categorically deny听such allegations,鈥� Gutierrez said.
鈥淭his was an independent action that we believe that鈥檚 done faithfully and truthfully by each member, that they signified their intention and support of the impeachment complaint based on the merits of the case and nothing more,鈥� he added.
Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said this signifies the start of a smear campaign against those pushing for Duterte鈥檚 removal from her post.
鈥淚to po鈥檡 (sign na) nagsimula na po ang smear campaign sa prosesong ito. 听 Actually, ako personally,听I actually expect that a lot of misinformation in fake news will be coming out after the filing听of the complaint,鈥� Adiong said.
(This signals the start of a smear campaign within this process.听 Actually, personally,听I expect that a lot of misinformation in fake news will be coming out after the filing听of the complaint.)
鈥淪o ang gusto ko lang pong i-reiterate at panawagan sa ating mga kababayan, 鈥榳ag ho tayong madadala sa ganitong klaseng fake news.听 Kasi ito po ay paraan para ilihis kung ano po 鈥榶ong talagang merits nitong prosesong ito, 鈥榶ong mga complaint po,鈥� he added.
(So I just want to reiterate and call on our fellow Filipinos to discern misinformation on the internet.听 This is just meant to divert attention from the merits of this process regarding the complaints.)
According to Adiong, there are enough grounds to have Duterte impeached as she threatened to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, assassinated.
鈥淢eron pong betrayal of public trust,听meron pong mismanagement in the utilization ng pondo ng bayan, meron po ang issue dito na whether a second-highest official of the land would be allowed to contract an assassin to kill a sitting President,听the Speaker of the House,听and the First Lady,鈥� he noted.
(There is betrayal of public trust,听there is mismanagement in the utilization ng public funds, then there is an issue as to whether a second-highest official of the land would be allowed to contract an assassin to kill a sitting President,听the Speaker of the House,听and the First Lady.)
Pro-Duterte social media personalities like Mark Anthony Lopez posted on his Facebook page that lawmakers who backed the impeachment complaint would allegedly receive P25 million for the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program, another P25 million for the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations, and P100 million for infrastructure projects.
Succeeding posts from Lopez, after Duterte was impeached, claimed that the lawmakers endorsed the complaints due to the P150 million allocation 鈥� which Gutierrez said was not true.
Earlier, Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro also debunked claims that lawmakers were forced or coerced into signing the fourth impeachment complaint, when House members met on hours before the raps were forwarded to the Senate on Wednesday.
READ: VP Duterte impeachment may draw over 103 signatories 鈥� Castro听
Castro noted that there were lawmakers present who did not sign the impeachment complaints 鈥� proving that no one was forced to endorse the documents.
Adiong also said that claims about lawmakers being forced to sign are fake, since there are House members who are related to each other who gave varying views on the impeachment.
During the session on Wednesday, it was announced that 215 lawmakers endorsed the impeachment complaint, allowing the House to transmit it to the Senate.
Under the 1987 Constitution, an impeachment complaint could be immediately forwarded to the Senate for a trial if over one-third of all House members 鈥� 102 out of 306 鈥斕� have signed and endorsed the petition.
READ: House impeaches VP Sara Duterte, fast-tracking transmittal to Senate听
Copies of the fourth impeachment complaint showed that there were seven articles of impeachment:
- Betrayal of public trust, commission of high crimes due to her threats to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez
- Betrayal of public trust and graft and corruption due to misuse of CFs within the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Office of the Vice President (OVP)
- Betrayal of public trust and bribery within the DepEd
- Violation of the 1987 Constitution and betrayal of public trust due to unexplained wealth and failure to disclose assets
- Commission of high crimes, due to involvement in extrajudicial killings in the drug war
- Betrayal of public trust due to allege destabilization plots and high crimes of sedition and insurrection
- Betrayal of acts due to her unbecoming conduct as Vice President
READ: First impeachment complaint vs VP Sara filed at House听
Earlier, Gutierrez also said that 24 more lawmakers signed the impeachment complaint, bringing the total to 239.听 However, it is unclear if the lawmakers would still be included in the official complaint.