‘86%’ of pro-impeachment reelectionists won, House exec notes
If supporting the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte was supposed to be politically suicidal for her critics at the House, how come eight out of every 10 reelectionist lawmakers who signed the complaint against her won a new term?
This was the reading of Deputy Speaker David Suarez as he sought to debunk notions that the pro-impeachment House members suffered a “backlash” in the May 12 midterm elections.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Suarez said 100 out of the 115 reelectionist lawmakers who signed the impeachment complaint in February won their respective races.
“[That’s a] winning rate of about 86 percent, and they should have been the first to feel the fallout if there would have been,” said Suarez, who ran unopposed in his district in Quezon province.
Negative impact?
On Feb. 5, a total of 215 lawmakers signed the complaint accusing Duterte of culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust and graft and corruption. The number later rose to 240 after the complaint was transmitted to the Senate for trial.
Of the total signatories, more than a hundred either reached their term limits as congressmen or sought other elective positions.
Some prominent pro-impeachment signatories, like Majority Leader Manuel Dalipe of Zamboanga and acting appropriations committee chair Stella Quimbo of Marikina, lost their mayoralty bids.
Suarez was reacting to a statement by Alyansa campaign manager and Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco that the impeachment negatively impacted the administration senatorial slate in Mindanao.
Suarez, one of the key allies of Speaker Martin Romualdez in the House, also rejected allegations that the signatures on the impeachment complaint were obtained through pressure or backroom deals.
Leadership challenge
“There’s no truth to that allegation, there’s no truth to that matter,” Suarez said.
“No one was forced, no one was—how do you say it—asked to sign. And everybody signed the impeachment based on their own volition,” he added.
“I respect the opinions of Cong. Toby Tiangco with regard to the matter although I do not subscribe to it,” Suarez said.
He expressed confidence that Romualdez, as head of Lakas-CMD party, one of the members of the Alyansa coalition, would keep his position in the incoming 20th Congress.
The buzz at the House is that Romualdez may be challenged for the chamber’s leadership by incoming Negros Occidental Rep. Albee Benitez and Tiangco himself.
“We believe in the past three years that we have seen the performance of the House. We have seen how we can deliver to the legislative agenda of our President,” Suarez said.
Let trial proceed
“And we have also seen how we can manage our leadership. We believe that most of us value continuity in Congress and we’re fully supportive of the leadership of Speaker Martin,” Suarez added.
In Malacañang, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace press officer Claire Castro said President Marcos had directed Cabinet officials to focus on governance and not be distracted by the coming impeachment trial of the Vice President.
“(The trial) is already in the hands of the Senate and the prosecutors. So let us allow the process to proceed normally,” she added.
Castro earlier said Mr. Marcos would maintain a “hands off” policy regarding the trial and would “not interfere, whatever happens.”
“But of course, we ask all senators to fulfill their obligation, not just for one person but for our countrymen,” she said. —WITH A REPORT FROM JULIE M. AURELIO
