House pursuing VP impeachment

The House leadership has vowed to pursue the impeachment of Vice President Leni Robredo.

House Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez maintained his firm stance on pursuing the ouster of Robredo despite President Duterte’s appeal to political allies not to entertain the impeachment of the country’s highest officials.

“There will be no change of heart,” Alvarez said even after the Chief Executive warned that the impeachment process would not benefit the country.

Alvarez said they are bound to fulfill their constitutional mandate of hearing impeachment complaints, explaining that the House is “not a rubber stamp of Malacañang.”

“We have to do our duty as mandated by the Constitution. Congress is an independent branch of government,” he pointed out.

Alvarez, secretary general of the administration Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan, assured that the impeachment complaint filed by Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano against Duterte would not prosper.

But the ouster complaint against Robredo will gain ground in both House and the Senate, the House chief said. Alvarez said once the House impeaches Robredo, the Articles of Impeachment will be transmitted to the Senate.

“The ball is in their hands, and once we impeached a public official, we have to see to it that we can successfully prosecute that impeached official,” he said, citing the 11-man House prosecution panel that will be created against Robredo.