15th May, 2017
Philippines lawmakers on Monday voted to throw out an impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte, saying the grounds for the case were mere hearsay.
In a unanimous vote, the 55-member Justice Committee of the House of Representatives found that the impeachment complaint was “insufficient in substance” and would recommend a formal dismissal of the case to the plenary.
The committee members noted that Representative Gary Alejano, who filed the complaint, did not have personal knowledge of the offences alleged against Duterte.
“Clearly, it’s not in his personal knowledge.
“That is the defect here. You are introducing statements under oath, these are not your own. It turns out these are all hearsay,’’ said Representative Rudy Farinas.
On March 16, Alejano filed an impeachment complaint against Duterte for alleged abuses and extrajudicial killings during the administration’s campaign against illegal drugs, which has left thousands dead.
The complaint, the first to be filed against Duterte since he took office in June, also alleged that the 72-year-old president failed to declare some of his properties.
Alejano additionally accused Duterte of taking a “defeatist stance” in the country’s territorial dispute with China, which he warned threatened the security and territorial integrity of the Philippines.