Array
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should not interfere in what the House intends to do in holding public officials like Vice President Sara Duterte accountable, lawmakers from the House of Representatives’ Makabayan bloc said on Friday.
In a joint statement, the three-person Makabayan bloc — ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel — called out Marcos after the Chief Executive confirmed that he asked House leaders not to push through with the impeachment of Duterte.
Over the past few months, there have been talks that impeachment complaints would be filed against Duterte, for alleged fund use irregularities hounding her offices. The calls grew stronger after Duterte threatened Marcos, but the President said an impeachment complaint would not help the country in any way.
“The President’s public pronouncements against impeachment proceedings represent undue executive interference in legislative affairs. Congress, as a co-equal branch of government, must maintain its independence and exercise its constitutional mandate without pressure from Malacañang,” Makabayan said.
“Nakakabahala ang lantarang pakikialam ng Pangulo sa mga proseso ng Kongreso. Hindi dapat idikta ng Malacañang kung paano gagawin ng Kongreso ang mandato nito para managot ang mga opisyal na may katiwalian,” they added.
(The obvious interference of the President on Congress’ processes is concerning. Malacañang should not dictate how Congress enforces its mandate to hold accountable our officials accused of corruption.)
According to the Makabayan, the hearings in the House committee on good government and public accountability showed different irregularities in how the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) utilized its budget, including its confidential funds (CFs).
