Impeach Duterte

Malacañang on Thursday challenged critics of President Rodrigo Duterte to file an impeachment complaint if they believe that he committed an impeachable offense when he agreed to allow the Chinese to fish in the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

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Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo maintained that the President’s statement that China could fish in Philippine waters was not a ground for impeachment.

Still, he dared those who criticized the President to file a complaint if they believe otherwise.

“Alam mo (You know), under the Constitution merong (there are) provisions on impeachment. Kung naniniwala sila na may ginawa siyang impeachable ground, eh ‘di mag-file (If they believe that what the President did is impeachable, then they should file an impeachment complaint),” Panelo said during a press briefing.

“But you cannot stop the President from doing steps that, to his mind, is the correct way to obey the constitutional command to protect and to serve the Filipino people,” he added.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson agreed with Panelo, saying a mere statement was not a ground for impeachment.

“Since there is no concrete or official act involved, but just a media statement which has been corrected, I’m not sure if an impeachment complaint can even get past the justice committee report or even the “sufficient form and substance” stage,” he said in an interview.

But Sen. Richard Gordon said allowing Chinese fishers to fish in the country’s EEZ needed congressional consent.

He said Duterte should consult Congress if he really intended to allow China to fish in Philippine waters.

Former Foreign Affairs secretary Albert del Rosario and other critics had claimed that Duterte committed an impeachable offense for violating the Constitution that mandates him to defend the country’s territory.

 

“The Constitution states that the President and the military must secure the national territory, and the national territory includes the exclusive economic zone,” del Rosario said in a television interview.

“To violate that is really a basis for impeachment, he can be impeached,” he added.

Article XII Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution states that the government “shall protect the nation’s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea and exclusive economic zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to Filipino citizens.” Duterte was criticized after declaring that China could fish in the West Philippine Sea because the two countries were “friends.”

Panelo on Thursday said the President’s statement was misinterpreted by “everyone.”

 

He explained that the government would “tolerate” Chinese fishers in the country’s EEZ, based on a 2016 ruling of a United Nations-backed court.

“It appears that what the President meant was China would not allow their nationals from fishing in our EEZ since they treat us as their friends, knowing that permitting their fishermen to fish in our EEZ would only result in an unwanted hostility leading to an armed confrontation,” Panelo said.

“He (Duterte) further elaborated on that issue. He explained that his first visit to China resulted in a modus vivendi where China, which claims ownership of Reed (Recto) Bank by virtue of historical right, would allow our fishermen to catch fish there, a place declared to be within our EEZ,” he added.

In his speech at the 122nd anniversary of the Presidential Security Group on Wednesday, Duterte said he could not “prohibit” or “drive away” Chinese fishers because of a supposed agreement between him and President Xi Jinping.

“Will you allow the Chinese to fish? Of course. ‘Yan ang pinag-usapan namin noon (That’s what we talked about before). And that was we were allowed to fish again. It was a mutual agreement. Sige bigayan tayo. Fish ka doon, fish ako dito (Let’s give and take. You can fish here, and I can fish there),” Duterte said.

The President argued that enforcing a ban on Chinese fishing in Philippine waters would cause a problem.

“Kung i-prohibit ko, how do I enforce? Takot nga ang Amerika. Ayaw nga mag-confront. Tapos ako pa ang ipusta nila? Gusto talaga nila mapasubo ako (If I prohibit, how do I enforce? America is scared, it does not want to confront [China]. And then they will have me face it? They really want me in trouble),” he said.

Panelo gave assurances that Duterte would not relinquish the country’s sovereign rights over the EEZ, that is why he has urged China to “join in the finalization of a code of conduct in the contested waters.”

“The Filipinos can rest assured that the President’s actions are all in accord with his Constitutional mandate to serve and protect the Filipino people. Maintaining peace and accord among all nations, as well as avoiding knee jerk and reckless undertakings in disputed areas, are only two of the many carefully studied moves of the President, in obedience to the said constitutional command,” he said.

“The advocacy of critics to pursue aggressive isolationist policies are not only impractical in this modern era of peace and international comity, but disruptive and potentially dangerous. The settlement of bilateral conflicts, and for that matter multinational disputes, can be best resolved through well tested diplomatic negotiations rather than saber-rattling diplomacy as espoused by inveterate manic nationalists and other war freak partisans,” he added.

Tensions between Manila and Beijing rose after a Chinese vessel rammed a Filipino fishing boat in Reed Bank on June 9.

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Nothing wrong

Senate President Vicente Sotto 3rd said there was nothing wrong if China and other countries fish in the Philippines’ EEZ as long as they reciprocated.

Sotto believes that there is nothing wrong with the President’s move “as long as we’re allowed to fish also in their zones” and “because they will treat us as friends likewise.”

“He’s the President. The buck stops with him. If it’s wrong or right, it’s his accountability,” he said in a television interview.

Sotto added, “It’s very difficult to say that there is exclusivity when it’s under water. The fish could be coming from China and fish from the Philippines could be going to China.”

This statement prompted some netizens to bash Sotto, with memes on the need to deploy personnel from the Bureau of Immigration “to check the nationality” of fishes in Philippine waters going viral.

WITH BERNADETTE TAMAYO

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