Sara supporters: don’t vote for Reps who impeached her
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/9 Feb) — Supporters of Vice President Sara Duterte are pushing for a “zero vote” for the 240 members of the House of Representatives who endorsed the Articles of Impeachment to remove her from office.
Randy Usman, former deputy mayor for Meranaws in Davao City, urged participants during an indignation rally and candle-lighting at the Freedom Park here Sunday night to ensure that the representatives who signed up to impeach Duterte get “zero vote.”
Usman represents Protect VP Sara. He claimed a crowd of 2,000 supporters even as the rally drew only a small crowd. “We will not stop what we are doing until the impeachment complaint is withdrawn,” he said.
Wearing mostly green shirts, at least 15 groups from this city, Surigao del Sur and Maguindanao, gathered at the Freedom Park, chanting “Hashtag Protect VP Sara; No to Impeachment;” “Yes to Peace, No to Impeachment.”
The rally started at 6 pm, an hour later than scheduled, and ended at 6:56 p.m.
A total of 240 representatives have signed the fourth impeachment complaint, up by 25 after the complaint signed by 215 representatives was transmitted to the Senate last Wednesday.
In a press release, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said the Senate has not convened as an impeachment court “so it will be up to them on what to do with these 25 members of the House of Representatives who have sent to us their verification.”
He explained that the 25 were not physically present on Wednesday to sign the complaint. If the names of the 25 are added, that would total 240 complainants out of 306 House members. The complaint requires only 102 signatories.
Two of the 25 additional endorsers are from Mindanao: Lanao del Norte Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo and Sultan Kudarat Rep. Princess Rihan Sakaluran. Out of the first 215, 41 out of 60 district representatives in Mindanao, were signatories.
The first impeachment complaint, led by Akbayan Rep. Perci Cendaña, accused Duterte of betrayal of public trust for allegedly not properly accounting for P125 million in confidential funds for the Office of the Vice President in 2022, and not liquidating cash advances amounting to P7 billion as Education secretary.
The second complaint, submitted on December 4 by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, also accused the Vice President of betrayal of public trust for alleged misuse of confidential funds.
The third complaint, filed on December 19 by Catholic priests, civil society leaders and lawyers, alleged plunder, malversation, bribery, and graft and corruption in relation to the P125 million in confidential funds in 2022 for the OVP and P112.5 million in 2023 for the Department of Education.
The fourth impeachment complaint consolidated the grounds referred by the three impeachment complaints. It cited 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 alleged destabilization plots and high crimes of sedition and insurrection and betrayal of acts due to her unbecoming conduct as Vice President.”
In a press briefing on Friday, the Vice President said she is “okay” despite impeachment, and that her defense lawyers have been preparing for it, as early as November 2023 when ACT Teachers representative France Castro spoke about impeaching Duterte.
“Sa kabila ng aking mga pahayag, ukol sa planong impeachment sa mga nakaraan na buwan, ang tanging masasabi ko na lamang sa puntong ito ay God save the Philippines” (Despite my pronouncements in the past about the plan to impeach me, the only thing I can say at this point is God save the Philippines,” she said.
Duterte said the nation is in a sorry state, that ordinary Filipinos, especially daily wage earners, “struggle to afford basic necessities like food, electricity, housing, water, and education for their children.”
But critics were quick to say “God save the Philippines from her.”
In a statement, Akbayan party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña said: “If anyone should be saying ‘God save the Philippines’, it’s the people suffering from her and her family’s corruption, incompetence, and impunity.”
Duterte also downplayed the impact of an impeachment. “Mas masakit pa maiwan ng boyfriend o girlfriend kaysa ma-impeach ka ng House of Representatives” (It’s more painful for your boyfriend or girlfriend to break up with you than to be impeached by the House of Representatives,” she said.
The Makabayan bloc in a statement said impeachment is “not like breaking up with a partner” but a “serious matter of accountability to the people and misuse of public funds.” (Ian Carl Espinosa/MindaNews)
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