MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Friday that any impeachment complaint against his former vice president Sara Duterte, who over the weekend threatened his life, would only paralyze Congress and not help the people .
Congresswoman France Castro was quoted by ABS-CBN News as saying on Friday that lower house lawmakers are ready to file an impeachment complaint against Duterte for betrayal of public trust, bribery and other serious crimes such as looting.
“Why waste time on that?” Marcos told reporters. “None of this will help improve the life of a single Filipino. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a storm in a teacup.”
Duterte has been embroiled in a bitter dispute with Marcos and his cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, since the collapse of a formidable alliance between their two powerful families that helped Marcos win the 2022 election by a huge margin.
Lawmakers are investigating Duterte’s alleged misuse of public funds during her tenure as education secretary. Duterte, who resigned from his cabinet post in June, has denied any wrongdoing.
On Saturday, Duterte said he had hired an assassin to kill the president, his wife and Romualdez, in case she herself died, prompting a sharp rebuke from Marcos.
Law enforcement officials had summoned Duterte for questioning about Friday’s statement, but the vice president did not show up and asked for a new schedule. His lawyers said he had office matters that required urgent attention.
Asked if his relationship with the vice president is irreparable, Marcos responded: “Never say never.”