The House of Representative has junked on Monday impeachment complaint filed against President Rodrigo Duterte, saying accusations by the complainant are only based on “hearsay evidence” from the media and self-confessed hitmen.
This comes after several lawmakers argued that Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano’s complaint is sufficient in form but not in substance.
“What you’ve heard of read in the newspaper or what was told you, that is hearsay evidence and that will not stand trial,” House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said in a mix of Filipino and English.
Alejano filed the impeachment complaint accusing Duterte of running the Davao Death Squad, approving killings in his campaign against drugs, keeping secret wealth, and treason in relation with the West Philippine Sea issue with China.
“If you have a complaint against an impeachable officer and you’re information are not of your own personal knowledge, let that person be the complainant and then you will endorse,” Fariñas said.
But for Alejano, what he argued about cannot be considered hearsay because he said he verified them.
“I am not a witness of the killings, of the victims of the war on drugs. I am a witness to the affidavits, to the testimonies, and everyone of us heard it. We are not in other countries. We know there are killings in the streets. That’s what my point is,” he said.
Deputy House Speaker Fredenil Castro motioned for the complaint’s dismissal.
“Let this proceeding and this impeachment complaint be a lesson to everybody not only now but in the future that you cannot make a joke by utilizing falsities as well as hearsay evidence in trying to remove someone especially one that is occupying the highest position of the land,” he said.
Photo credit: PhilNews
