Atty Bruce Rivera answer questions from the media regarding the impeachment complaint files agains VP Leni Robredo , Aatasan Pambansa, May 2,2017. INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC
No member of the House of Representatives came forward on Tuesday to endorse the impeachment complaint filed by a group of lawyers against Vice President Leni Robredo, in the second attempt to unseat her in two months.
The complaint accused Robredo, among other things, of betraying the public trust when she delivered a recorded speech at a United Nations side meeting criticizing the Duterte administration鈥檚 war on drugs.
Facing the House reporters, lawyer Bruce Rivera, one of the complainants, insisted that the complaint was 鈥渞eceived鈥� by a congressman but would neither identify him nor explain why the filing did not take place as announced.
Under the 1987 Constitution, an impeachment complaint may only be filed by a non-House member if it is endorsed by a lawmaker.
鈥淭hink all you want. You can make it look like that,鈥� Rivera said in reply to persistent questions about whether his group experienced difficulty in finding a House member to endorse the complaint.
鈥淲hen we were forming it, [the congressman] already reached out, saying we should go through with it 鈥�. It鈥檚 just that we have to be a little circumspect,鈥� the lawyer said.
Later Tuesday, Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta Rep. Jericho Nograles said he was approached by two lawyers with the impeachment complaint bearing his name without his consent.
鈥淭hey said they were the complainants of the impeachment complaint against Vice President Leni Robredo. And when presented with the complaint, I was surprised to see my name on the complaint,鈥� Nograles told reporters.
Nograles, brother of Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles, chair of the appropriations committee, said he told the two lawyers to leave his office because they were using his name without his consent.
He was apparently one of the lawmakers approached by Rivera鈥檚 group.
As of Tuesday evening, there were no confirmed takers.
The camp of Robredo said the second impeachment complaint came as no surprise, calling it 鈥渉arassment.鈥�
鈥淲e are expecting them to file the impeachment complaint but from what we鈥檝e heard from them a few weeks ago from their press conference, it seems like [the complaint] has no basis. In fact, they were attempting to crowdsource and do some fishing expedition,鈥� Robredo鈥檚 legal adviser, Ibarra Gutierrez, told reporters.
Gutierrez said the Robredo camp was not bothered by the complaint and would rather focus on the 鈥渨ork to which Vice President Robredo was elected.鈥�
鈥淏ut, of course, we will face it if we have to. But it is clear that this is an attempt to destroy [Robredo], harassment and there鈥檚 really no clear basis for it,鈥� Gutierrez said.
Independent opposition Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay said there were no grounds to impeach the Vice President.
The Black and White Movement said the charges against Robredo 鈥渁re only valid if free speech is no longer valid,鈥� referring to critics鈥� claim that she had besmirched the country鈥檚 reputation when she spoke about the Duterte administration鈥檚 bloody war on drugs at a UN forum.
Uphill climb
Rivera acknowledged that President Duterte had publicly repudiated any attempt to impeach Robredo, and that his group was facing an uphill battle in the House, where Robredo served as Camarines Sur representative before rising to the Vice Presidency.
Partylist Cong Jericho Jonas Nograles in an ambush interview in Congress shows copy of impeachement complaint against VP Leni Robredo but denies that he鈥檚 one of the complainants in the impeachment complaint. INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC
Earlier Tuesday, Majority Leader Rodolfo Fari帽as said the 鈥淚mpeach Leni鈥� group should get an endorsement from a House member first before its complaint could be entertained under the rules.
鈥淚f those who file later do not get an endorsement, then it鈥檚 just a scrap of paper,鈥� he told reporters.
At the briefing, Rivera could not immediately produce copies of the complaint, which he said had about 30 pages, for reporters, as the only validated copy was still with the unidentified congressman.
He, however, gave some details of the grounds cited and the purported evidence against Robredo.
Charges
Rivera said the impeachment complaint accused the Vice President of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, and graft and corruption.
He said Robredo betrayed the republic when she criticized the administration鈥檚 war on drugs in a recorded speech at a UN side meeting.
He said the Vice President鈥檚 words were 鈥渞eckless and irresponsible,鈥� noting disavowals by the Philippine National Police and other government agencies of her claims in the recorded message, including the charge about a 鈥減alit-ulo鈥� scheme, literally meaning 鈥渆xchanging heads鈥� of those on drug watch lists with their friends or family.
Rivera also accused Robredo of misdeclaring her assets in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, when she put in her shares in Manila Electric Co. as a 鈥渂usiness interest鈥� without giving any amount.
He ascribed irregularities to Robredo when she still chaired the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, saying Pag-Ibig funded a convention in the United States that was not about housing but about social empowerment.
Robredo is the nominal leader of the Liberal Party. In December, she quit the Cabinet as housing secretary over policy and political differences with Mr. Duterte, and emerged as a leading opposition figure.
In March, Marcos loyalists Oliver Lozano and Melchor Chavez submitted to the Speaker鈥檚 office an impeachment complaint alleging that Robredo betrayed the public trust for her six-minute video presented at the 60th United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs annual meeting in Vienna.