AN impeachment case against President Duterte, anchored only on his off-the-cuff pronouncement that he allowed China to fish in the Philippines’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), could be thrown out as premature, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said over the weekend.
Lacson, who is empowered to sit as judge along with 23 other senators in case the Senate convenes as an impeachment court, noted that a formal complaint to oust the President, if one is filed against Duterte, must be based on his actions—in this case, an actual order allowing China to fish in the EEZ.
The senator shared this view in a
radio interview when asked to assess the West Philippine Sea situation, in the
wake of heightened tension affecting the livelihood of Filipino fishermen,
after a Chinese vessel hit a Filipino fishing boat at Recto Bank—inside the
Philippines’s EEZ—then fled the scene, abandoning 22 Filipino fishermen as
their boat sank, until they
were rescued by Vietnamese fishermen.
While Duterte readily waded into the struggle against illegal drugs and corruption soon after assuming the presidency, Lacson observed that the Chief Executive “did not anticipate a third struggle for nationalism,” referring to his duty to assert and defend national interests threatened by Chinese encroachment.
“First of all, when the President assumed his post, he immediately waged two battles—against illegal drugs and against corruption. That’s fine, but he did not anticipate there is a third equally vital battle, the fight for nationalism,” Lacson said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Lacson surmised that the Duterte administration officials may have failed to foresee that they may need to wage a legal battle to assert sovereign rights over maritime territory.
There should have been “foresight,” he added, since the Philippines won a favorable “arbitral ruling and there are issues in the West Philippine Sea. For which the administration must prepare.”
The West Philippine Sea issue is a “no-brainer because what we are talking of here is nationalism, this involves national interest. Filipinos against whatever country when national interest is at stake,” Lacson stressed, even as he hastened to clarify that he is not talking of war.
“I’m not talking of fighting as in war. I mean a fighting stance in thought, in action, and in words. What happened in the WPS offers us only one choice: PH. We are the Philippine team.”
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