‘Forcing’ Duterte’s hand under threat of impeachment ‘a crime’ – Nograles
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Wed, 03 Jul 2019 07:36:11 +0000
“THREATENING” President Rodrigo Duterte with impeachment if he did not make moves that “will lead towards war against China” may be considered a “crime,” Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles warned on Wednesday.
Duterte himself threatened to jail those who would attempt to impeach him.
Duterte stirred a “hornet’s nest” when he branded the ramming of a Filipino fishing boat by a Chinese vessel on Recto Bank as “just another maritime accident” and made the situation worse when he said that it was alright for China to fish in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) — a direct violation of the Constitution that provides Filipinos the exclusive use of marine resources in the area.
In an interview aired over CNN Philippines, Nograles said while those pushing for Duterte’s impeachment won’t be jailed, “forcing his hand to do something that might lead to war under the threat of impeachment, the threat, the act of threatening the president may be construed as a crime,” Nograles said.
“What he is just saying is, if the people try to force my hand here, with impeachment, etc., I think under that context is, they can be construed as a crime. But, do not threaten him with things that would lead the country to war, that is basically his point,” said Nograles.
Nograles also said that Malacanang would make the Philippines’ investigation of the Recto Bank incident public “in due time.”
He said the Palace did not want to preempt anything on the investigation, especially since there would be two conflicting sides to the same story.
He added that the government would still compare notes with China, which was also holding its own investigation.
“It may be premature to show the public that these are our findings because we are still talking to China. What we want to avoid is having people think or perceive that this is it, when it is not,” he said.
Nograles said that there would be difficulty enforcing something if the two countries did not agree.
“In order to enforce something when it comes to two countries, both countries would have to agree. If one country does not agree, we will have a hard time in enforcement. That’s the reality on the ground, that’s the reality of international diplomatic relations,” he said. RALPH VILLANUEVA
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