Impeachment process better than coup – admin critics

Supporters of former Marine captain and now Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano came to his defense yesterday for taking the legal way, instead of resorting to extralegal actions, in ventilating the group’s grievances against the Duterte administration.

Alejano, one of the Magdalo leaders behind an attempt to oust then president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, filed an impeachment complaint against President Duterte on Thursday.

“Which is better, an impeachment case or a destructive coup d’etat?” a retired soldier said.

They also lauded Alejano for taking the peaceful route toward removing a president accused of serious wrongdoing.

Alejano’s supporters said the Magdalo group has learned its lessons and will no longer resort to destabilizing activities.

“While we know his capabilities, coup d’etat is a thing of the past for the Magdalo leader,” another retired soldier said.

Administration supporters described Alejano’s filing of an impeachment complaint as part of a grand destabilization plot against the Duterte administration.

What used to be a solid brotherhood among soldiers during the Arroyo administration, the Magdalo is now a divided group – with one faction loyal to then Marine captain and now Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon and the other to Alejano and Sen. Antonio Trillanes and other former leaders of the group.

“If they’re planning something ‘extra legal’ then why make noises? What’s important is even if the impeachment complaint fails, no one in the military gets punished,” a former Magdalo member said.

Trillanes welcomed Alejano’s action against President Duterte.

“Being part of Magdalo, I welcome and support Cong. Gary Alejano’s filing of impeachment complaint against President Duterte. It is the last venue for him to face the allegations against him,” Trillanes said in press statement.