Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The ruling Liberal Party (LP) confirmed on Thursday (July 9) that it will not push for the impeachment of Vice President Jejomar Binay.
With only 10 months left before the 2016 elections, LP stalwart and staunch Binay critic Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice said that there was not enough time left for to push for an impeachment.
“Napakarami naming batas na dapat isulong. ‘Yan ay pagsasayang ng panahon,” Erice said.
[Translation: “We have a lot of laws to push. That (impeachment) would be a waste of time.”]
According to Erice, talks of impeachment could just be merely a part of Binay’s scheme to use technicalities to clear his name.
“Dahil walang material time, ‘di matatapos. Sasabihin sa halalan, o, wala akong kasalanan. ‘Yan ang iniisip nila. Scheme ‘to e,” the solon explained.
[Translation: And because there’s a lack of material time, it (impeachment) won’t be finished. Come elections, he’ll say he’s innocent. That’s what they’re thinking. This is a scheme.”]
House of Representatives leaders, likewise, said they were not aware of a plan to impeach the vice president.
In a text message, House Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr. confirmed that he was not supporting any move to impeach Binay.
He added, should there be such a movement, it must have been initiated by the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) — Binay’s party — to gain sympathy.
UNA speaks out
UNA interim president, Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, admitted he hasn’t heard of any talk about a brewing impeachment case against Binay at the House.
But Tiangco maintained, based on the Office of the Ombudsman’s complaint-affidavit, that there was a possibility of filing impeachment charges against the vice president.
An expert’s point of view
Political analyst Ramon Casiple, on the other hand, explained it was possible that LP considered filing an impeachment case against Binay.
“The only way that Mar [Roxas] can win is if those above him in the ratings are out of the picture,” Casiple said. “Ibaba niya, tanggalin niya ang mga posibleng manalo, nandoon yung hope na pupunta sa kanya mga boto.”
[Translation: “Bringing down those who could possibly win — that’s where the hope of getting more votes lies.”]
But Casiple revealed a potential problem: There is no assurance that LP has the numbers to impeach Binay.
The signature of more than 1/3 of the members of the House or 97 members are needed to impeach an official.
Casiple explained that while LP has about 120 members in Congress, they can’t be sure of the loyalty of these members at this point.
“This is already the time when everybody — every politician — is thinking where he or she will align in 2016,” the analyst said. “Certainly, impeaching Binay will not get you anywhere near Binay.”
UNA officials earlier said that there were members of the administration coalition who had expressed plans to jump ship and join UNA.
