MANILA, Philippines — A House lawmaker said on Tuesday, November 26, that Vice President Sara Duterte’s death threats are grounds for impeachment.
Members of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability were asked at a press conference if they were contemplating an impeachment complaint against the vice president.
Rep. Jefferson “Jay” Khonghun (Zambales, 1st District) said, in his personal opinion, that the statements Duterte made would justify an impeachment case.
“Kung tatanungin niyo ako, kung ang mga binitawang mga salita ba ng ating bise presidente, tingin ko impeachable offense ba ito? Tingin ko, personal opinyon ko ito, oo,” he said.
(If you ask me whether the statements made by our vice president are, in my view, an impeachable offense, my personal opinion is yes.)
Lawmakers like Rep. Joel Chua (Manila, 3rd District), a staunch Duterte critic and chair of the committee, and Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers Partylist) have been vocal about why an impeachment complaint against the vice president may or should be filed.
RELATED: Impeachment of VP Sara Duterte needed before plunder raps — House leader
Khonghun, however, clarified that lawmakers have not discussed whether or not an impeachment complaint will be filed by the committee.
“Pero kung tatanungin niyo rin ba ako kung napag-uusapan ba ito sa Kongreso, eh hindi pa namin ito napag-uusapan. Dahil abalang-abala din kaming lahat sa pag attend ng meeting,” he said.
(But if you ask me whether this is being discussed in Congress, we haven’t talked about it yet because we’ve all been busy attending meetings.)
Meanwhile, Chua said that after all the hearings of the probe into Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds, the decision will be made by the committee members.
The committee recently flagged the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, under Duterte's leadership, for entrusting a total of P612.5 million in confidential funds to designated special disbursing officers.
RELATED: DepEd, OVP disbursing officers: 'Security officers' handled confidential funds
Duterte’s death threatsDuterte made the death threats during the witching hours of November 23, during a late-night press conference resembling a rant session, where she lambasted President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, Liza Araneta Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
She frequently cursed and claimed to have hired someone to “not stop” until the three are killed if she were to die.
"May kinausap na ako na tao. Sinabi ko sa kaniya na kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta at si Martin Romualdez. No joke. Nagbilin na ako. 'Pag namatay ako, sabi ko, 'wag ka tumigil hanggang hindi mo mapatay sila,' and then he said yes," Duterte said.
(I already spoke to someone. I told him that if I am killed, kill BBM, Liza Araneta and Martin Romualdez. No joke. I gave him orders. 'When I die, I said, 'don't stop until you kill them,' and then he said yes," Duterte said on November 23.)
RELATED: Sara Duterte gets technical: 'I never used the word assassin'
This came after her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, had vomited and experienced a panic attack, following the transfer order issued by the good government panel the night of November 22.
The National Bureau of Investigation served a subpoena on Tuesday requiring Duterte to appear at its headquarters on Friday, November 29, to explain her statementrbet, which she claims was “taken out of context.”
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