Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 14) — President Rodrigo Duterte has accepted the resignation letter of Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair Andres Bautista.
In an interview that aired Friday on PTV 4, the President said he had accepted Bautista’s resignation, thinking the earlier the embattled poll chief left his post, the better.
“I don’t know if you can still impeach him or not because by resigning, he has removed himself,” the President said.
Last October 11, Bautista announced his intent to leave his post by the end of the year. However, hours after this, the Lower House voted to impeach him.
Duterte said it would be better for Bautista to step down so there would no longer be any trouble.
He added nobody had told him the Lower House was resuming the impeachment process against Bautista.
The impeachment case against Bautista had earlier been declared “insufficient in form” by the House Justice Committee.
READ: House panel junks impeachment complaint vs. Comelec chair
However, voting 137-75, the House of Representatives on Wednesday overturned the decision.
The Justice Committee was directed to prepare the Articles of Impeachment for submission to the Senate, which will act as the Impeachment Court.
