Philippine lawmaker pushes for Duterte’s impeachment over ‘defeatist’ China stance

MANILA: A Philippines lawmaker filed supplementary charges yesterday to an impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte, accusing him of taking a ‘defeatist stance’ by doing nothing to challenge Beijing’s activities in the South China Sea.

Opposition congressman Gary Alejano said Duterte had made a slew of remarks that proved he had no intention to protect Philippine sovereignty and had alienated key allies like the United States through “rants and unstoppable outbursts”.

The complaint adds to a laundry list of what Alejano says are impeachable offences that amount to high crimes, abuse of power and betrayal of public trust.

He submitted the initial complaint two weeks ago, just as Congress went into a recess, a move aimed at keeping it in the public spotlight and preventing Congress from dismissing it right away. It reconvenes on May 2. — Reuters