Speaker may impeach VP

MANILA: The leader of the Philippine lower house of Congress and a staunch ally of President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday said he was studying whether there was cause to impeach the vice-president for her criticism of Mr Duterte’s bloody war on drugs.

Mr Duterte himself is facing an impeachment motion, with lower house representative Gary Alejano accusing him of offences ranging from conflict of interest and assets concealment to drugs-related extrajudicial killings and operating a “death squad” during the 22 years he was Davao City mayor.

In a radio interview yesterday, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said he was weighing the possibility of filing an impeachment case against Vice-President Leni Robredo for “betrayal of public trust”.

Ms Robredo issued a strong rebuke of Mr Duterte’s war on drugs last week, describing it in a video sent to the United Nations as an issue of public health that cannot be solved “with bullets alone”.

“The act of sending a video clip to the UN is really irresponsible,” Mr Alvarez said. “This is the first time a high government official has sent a video clip maligning our country. I am looking [to see whether] this constitutes betrayal of public trust”.

Mr Duterte’s allies said the impeachment motion against him would be soundly defeated. Mr Duterte has denied wrongdoing.