3 Liberal Party members and an ally are stripped of their committee chairmanships in the Senate

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday, February 27, lashed out against the Duterte administration for being "obsessed with monopolizing power and intent on marginalizing those who have opposing views."

This was after senators belonging to or affiliated with the Liberal Party (LP) were stripped of their committee chairmanships. (READ: Liberal Party senators see Palace hand in ouster)

On Monday afternoon, senators Franklin Drilon, Francis Pangilinan, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, and Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros were removed from key posts in the Senate following a motion by key administration ally, neophyte Senator Manny Pacquiao.

The 4 were once part of the PDP-Laban-led majority bloc. They have since moved to the minority bloc. Akbayan is an ally of the once-ruling LP.

"When we were given the mandate by the people, we were determined to work with this administration to put national interest before politics. But despite our sincere efforts, it is now clear that the Duterte administration is incapable of tolerating dissent, no matter how constructive," said Robredo in a statement released to the media.

"What happened in the Senate today is characteristic of an administration obsessed with monopolizing power and intent on marginalizing those who have opposing views," added Robredo, who was once a member of the Duterte Cabinet.

She resigned as housing chief last December after she was told to stop attending all Cabinet meetings.

The Vice President, a staunch critic of authoritarian rule and of Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorship, noted that the Philippines has seen moves to monopolize power in the past.

"This has happened before. In the past, this paved the way for a one-man rule. We will not be silenced. Our nation deserves no less," said Robredo, who defeated Marcos' only son, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, for the vice presidency during the 2016 elections.

As the LP's highest elected official, Robredo is also the party's chairperson.

"Democracy demands dissent," added Robredo. (READ: Robredo to Duterte: 'Mr President, we call you to task')

The shift among the Senate blocs came days after Senator Leila de Lima, an LP member and among President Rodrigo Duterte's staunchest critics, was arrested for alleged ties to illegal drugs on February 24.

On February 25, all 4 senators attended the 31st anniversary celebration of the EDSA People Power Revolution. They were all clad in black.

On the same day, Duterte supporters staged a rally in support of the President at the Luneta.

Last week, the Senate was also divided over a vote to reopen a probe into the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS), a vigilante group that was supposedly founded and utilized by Duterte when he was Davao City mayor.

The LP bloc voted to allow Arturo "Arthur" Lascañas, a self-confessed DDS hitman, to testify before the Senate.

When we were given the mandate by the people, we were determined to work with this administration to put national interest before politics.

But despite our sincere efforts, it is now clear that the Duterte administration is incapable of tolerating dissent, no matter how constructive.

What happened in the Senate today is characteristic of an administration obsessed with monopolizing power and intent on marginalizing those who have opposing views.

This has happened before. In the past, this paved the way for a one-man rule.

We will not be silenced. Our nation deserves no less. </s> Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday assured Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo that there was no plot to steal the vice presidency from her.

In an interview following the groundbreaking ceremony for the planned Bicol International Airport in Legazpi City, the President said Robredo, who is from Bicol, would keep her post.

“I will assure Leni and the rest of the Bicol region that you will have her until the very end of her term,” Duterte told reporters. “There is no such thing as removing of a vice president,” he added.

The President issued the statement when asked about Robredo’s claim that there was a plot to steal her position following her resignation as housing chief last Monday.

The former Camarines Sur representative is facing an electoral protest lodged by former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., whom she defeated in the May elections with a margin of 263,473 votes.

Robredo claimed her resignation from the Cabinet was due to the Executive branch’s apparent lack of support for housing initiatives and the President’s order that she stop attending Cabinet meetings.

Robredo as well as the Palace officials also noted that she and Duterte have opposing views on several issues, including the hero’s burial for Marcos’ father, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

Duterte made the statement a day after accusing the “Yellows,” or allies of the previous Aquino administration led by the Liberal Party, of plotting to oust him.

The Liberal Party on Thursday denied it was planning to oust President Duterte.

“It’s not true. There’s no such plot and you know, I don’t know where the President gets his information, but we deny that we are plotting,” said Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon, a party leader.

Drilon said the party was just stating its positions on various issues, some of which were opposed to the President’s positions, like the burial of former president Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

“So these are views that we expressed as a party and they have nothing to do with any plan allegedly to oust the president. We deny that categorically,” Drilon said.

Senator Francis Pangilinan, acting Liberal Party president, also dismissed the allegation, noting that many party members have jumped ship to parties allied with Malacañang.

“Being critical of the burial of Marcos in the Libingan or being critical of the spate of extrajudicial killings does not mean we want Duterte ousted,” Pangilinan said.

Still, Liberal senators have no plans of leaving the majority bloc in the chamber, led by the Senate President Aquilino Pimentel 3rd of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipno-Lakas ng Bayan. </s> The alleged plot to unseat President Rodrigo Duterte being attributed to Vice President Leni Robredo showed how “twisted and paranoid” this administration has become, an opposition lawmaker said.

“’LeniLeaks’ again show us how twisted and paranoid the demigods under the Duterte administration has become,” Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin said in a statement on Monday.

Villarin, an ally of Robredo, criticized the administration for spreading “hateful rumors” only to cover up their own fears.

“Why burden the public with hateful rumors? What good will it bring to put down a good person except to assuage their own fears and insecurities,” Villarin said.

Villarin appealed to the administration to call for unity of principle and decency during the new year.

“Let the new year be a chance for our country to be united along principles of decency and tolerance, not drown by lies and deceit,” Villarin said.

Robredo became a subject of online backlash after her rabid online critics and trolls on Facebook spread screenshots of supposed emails from Robredo’s known supporters calling for Duterte’s resignation and protests against the President’s support for the hero’s burial of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Another viral post showed an email from the Office of the Vice President’s social media unit urging its trolls to launch a counteroffensive against Duterte; social media personalities who were Robredo’s rabid critics; and defeated vice presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos, who filed an electoral protest against Robredo.

While the Office of the Vice President has not yet issued a statement about it, Robredo denied being part of any ouster moves against Duterte.

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said he has asked National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. to investigate the alleged ouster plot.

Robredo had resigned from the Cabinet after she was ordered by Duterte to desist from attending Cabinet meetings due to irreconcilable differences.

Duterte later said he asked Robredo to stop attending the meetings over allegations that she joined protests against him, an accusation the vice president vehemently denied.

Robredo has criticized Duterte’s support for the burial of the dictator Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, as well as the administration’s bloody war on drugs, which has claimed over 6,000 lives already, including those killed in the crossfire. JE </s> Manila: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte could resign to make way for the son of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos if a legal challenge to the 2016 vice presidential election is upheld.

Duterte, 73, who has often raised the possibility of stepping down, thinks Ferdinand Marcos jnr "is one of the better qualified leaders to succeed him," presidential spokesman Harry Roque said at a briefing on Thursday.

If Marcos "becomes vice president, perhaps the President will make true his word that he will step down," Roque said.

Marcos won 14.1 million votes in the 2016 vice presidential race, an election that is conducted separately from the presidency in the Philippines, narrowly losing to the opposition Liberal Party candidate Leni Robredo. Marcos claims the vote was tainted by massive cheating.

Duterte has said before that he might turn over the presidency to Marcos, whose sister he credits with supporting his presidential campaign. The triggers, he said, would include a failure to deliver on his promises to crack down on narcotics, crime and corruption. </s> VICE PRESIDENT Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo and her Liberal party mates on Tuesday denied a plot to oust President Rodrigo Duterte, with Robredo calling the accusation that came from the President himself “misinformation.”

Duterte on Monday said the “yellows” were out to discredit and impeach him, claiming they were behind the international media play-up of his expletive-laden outburst against the United States and US President Barack Obama amid last week’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations summits in Laos.

Yellow is the color associated with the Liberal Party (LP) of former President Benigno Aquino 3rd.

Robredo, the LP’s highest-ranking elected official who was given the Social Welfare and Development portfolio by Duterte, said in a statement: “There are no moves from the Liberal Party to unseat the President.”

“In fact, the leadership of the party has been consistently demonstrating its support to this administration. Members of the party coalesced with the majority in the House and the Senate,” she added.

Robredo was referring to the LP lawmakers who belong to the “Super Majority” bloc led by Duterte’s allies from PDP-Laban, the Nationalist People’s Coalition, Nacionalista Party, National Unity Party and Lakas-CMD in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Rep. Romero Quimbo of Marikina, a Liberal, is one of the 12 deputy speakers of the House.

Robredo said she would “clarify” the “misinformation” on the supposed impeachment plot with the President and assure him of the party’s commitment to his reform measures, particularly on poverty and the fight against illegal drugs.

“We’ve offered the anti-poverty programs and policies that I’ve been pushing for to complement the government’s priorities on poverty alleviation. We’ve been coordinating with the relevant government agencies so that our office can help in the rehabilitation effort that needs to accompany the campaign against illegal drugs,” she added.

Liberal congressmen Feliciano Belmonte Jr. of Quezon City, Edcel Lagman of Albay, Raul Daza of Northern Samar and Edgar Erice of Caloocan City echoed Robredo.

Belmonte said it would be hard to impeach Duterte, who controls Congress.

“He (Duterte) is overwhelmingly popular which amounts to a public approval of his programs. Secondly, he has overwhelming majority in the House where impeachment starts,” Belmonte said.

Daza agreed that impeachment was definitely off the table.

“As you already know, 28 of the 33 LP members are with the Super Majority [bloc]. We [in the LP]have not even talked about impeachment. Impeachment, under the Constitution, begins in the House and I am sure there has not been any talk about that,” Daza said.

‘Impeaching himself’

 For Lagman, a Liberal stalwart who chose to be part of the House minority, the President had no one to blame but himself for what happened last week.

“It is the President who is … impeaching himself with ill-conceived statements that are unmindful of adverse effects and compromising consequences,” Lagman told reporters, referring to the President’s tirades against the US, expletives against world leaders, and controversial statements against political opponents.

At least five LP members belong to the House opposition bloc that has called itself the “Legitimate 8” following the installation of Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez as minority leader.

Lagman’s group, which claims the Suarez-led minority is friendly to the Super Majority, includes Daza, Erice, Teodoro Baguilat of Ifugao and Emmanuel Billones of Capiz.

Erice clarified that being in the opposition did not mean support for Duterte’s ouster.

“We don’t talk about impeachment because it is bad for our country and for our economy. We do not wish impeachment for the President,” Erice said.

“We want President Duterte to succeed, and our role [in the opposition]is to provide check and balance. The President should also try to appreciate that what we are doing here [as opposition lawmakers]is also good for the country,” Erice added. </s> OUSTER PLOT? President Duterte says he still thinks the Liberal Party wants to oust him. File photo by King Rodriguez/Malacanang PPD

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte suspects the Liberal Party still wants to oust him because they “cannot accept defeat.”

“Yung mga Yellow diyan, nagdedemonstrate kayo (You Yellow, you are demonstrating)…You want me out because you cannot accept defeat,” said Duterte on Wednesday night, December 7, during the United Nations Convention Against Corruption event at the Palace.

“Pulitika ito eh (This is politics). They wanted me out, syempre yung (of course the) Vice President – kayo, you had your chance,” added Duterte, mentioning Vice President Leni Robredo, the Liberal Party member with the highest position in government.

Days ago, Duterte had told Robredo, through a text from Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr, that she should stop attending Cabinet meetings starting December 5. The move convinced Robredo to resign from her post as housing czar.

The Palace said Duterte’s decision to bar Robredo from Cabinet meetings was due to their “irreconcilable differences.”

Robredo previously denied any Liberal Party plans to oust Duterte.

In the midst of his rant about the Liberal Party, Duterte contrasted the political party with Leftists who he claims support him.

“Pero pag sabi mong Left, they would never even allow me to step down two steps to the ground. ‘Yang mga komunsita, ‘yang NPA (New People’s Army), puro Duterte ‘yan,” he said.

(But when you say Left, they would never even allow me to step down two steps to the ground. The communists, the NPA, they are all for Duterte.)

Duterte’s Cabinet counts among its members individuals affiliated with the Left, including Cabinet Secretary Evasco, a former NPA rebel; Agrarian Secretary Rafael Mariano; Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo; and National Anti-Poverty Commission chairperson Liza Maza.

The Duterte administration is also pursuing peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines in Oslo, Norway. – Rappler.com </s> An opposition lawmaker from the Liberal Party on Monday denied that the alleged “LeniLeaks” controversy is a plot of Vice President Leni Robredo to unseat President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a statement, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said a “plain reading” of the email thread that went viral “does not manifest a design to destabilize the government or oust President Duterte.”

But the controversy has become a tool for the administration to censure any forms of dissent, Lagman said.

Robredo became a subject of online backlash after her rabid online critics and trolls on Facebook spread screenshots of supposed emails from Robredo’s known supporters calling for Duterte’s resignation and protests against the President’s support for the hero’s burial of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Another viral post showed an alleged email from the Office of the Vice President’s social media unit urging its trolls to launch a counteroffensive against Duterte, social media personalities who were Robredo’s rabid critics, and defeated vice presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos, who filed an electoral protest against Robredo.

Lagman said the alleged emails were part of the exercise of freedom of expressions as protected by the Bill of Rights and an important part of democracy.

Lagman said the emails only suggest resignation and not any radical ouster plot to end Duterte’s term.

“While some of the emails may suggest the resignation of Duterte for an erratic decision favoring the burial of the late dictator Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani and for failure to solve the drug menace, they express honest opinions and do not recommend any radical action or upheaval to pre-terminate Duterte’s incumbency,” Lagman said.

Lagman said “LeniLeaks” only shows the administration’s imagined fear of an impeachment or ouster plot being used to justify censorship of any form of dissent.

“If the President’s men believe that Duterte is rendering fealty to his mandate, then their phobia of his impending ouster is grossly misplaced and is conveniently used as a pretext to discourage and censure critical dissent,” Lagman said.

 READ: ‘Duterte ouster plot’ shows how admin is ‘twisted, paranoid’—solon

While the Office of the Vice President has not yet issued a statement about it, Robredo denied being part of any ouster moves against Duterte.

READ: I am not a part of any plot to oust Duterte’—Robredo

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said he has asked National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. to investigate the alleged ouster plot.

Robredo resigned from the Cabinet after she was ordered by Duterte to desist from attending Cabinet meetings due to irreconcilable differences.

Duterte later said he asked Robredo to stop attending the meetings following allegations Robredo had joined protests against Duterte, an accusation the vice president denied.

Robredo has criticized Duterte’s support for the burial of Marcos at the Libingan, as well as the administration’s bloody war on drugs, which has claimed over 6,000 lives. IDL/rga </s> President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday assured Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo that there was no plot to steal the vice presidency from her.

In an interview during the groundbreaking ceremony for the planned Bicol International Airport in Legazpi City, the President said Robredo, who is from Bicol, would keep her post until the last day of her term.

“I will assure Leni and the rest of the Bicol region that you will have her until the very end of her term,” Duterte told reporters.

“There is no such thing as removing of a vice president,” the President added.

Duterte issued the statement when asked about Robredo’s claim that there was a plan to steal her position following her resignation as housing chief.

Robredo claimed her resignation from the Cabinet was due to the Executive branch’s apparent lack of support for housing initiatives and the President’s order that she stop attending Cabinet meetings. </s> The Cabinet of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte will investigate an alleged email leak that reportedly reveals that the country’s vice president has been involved in efforts to overthrow the controversial leader.

The emails, which have been dubbed ‘LeniLeaks’ online, purportedly show supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo calling for rallies against Duterte’s administration.

Those involved in the exchanges, which were posted online by bloggers, were Filipino-American members of a Yahoo! group called Global Filipino Diaspora Council, which is allegedly plotting to oust Duterte.

Billionaire philanthropist Loida Nicolas-Lewis and her sister, former Commission on Filipinos Overseas Chair Imelda “Mely” Nicolas, were both reportedly involved in the exchanges.

“[Duterte] asked for an extension of another six months. Extension denied! Join Duterte Resign Movement,” one of the emails from Nicolas-Lewis allegedly reads, referring to Duterte’s admission that he could not solve the country’s drug problem in six months, as previously promised.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said on Monday that he is convinced Robredo is connected to the group.

On Sunday, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. called the allegations against Robredo “serious” during a podcast of presidential communications secretary Martin Andanar.

“I need to look into it, this looks like a serious matter that needs an in-depth probe,” Esperon said, as quoted by CNN Philippines.

However, GMA News quoted Esperon as saying that a discussion of the emails is not on the agenda for the first Cabinet meeting of 2017.

“We have a Cabinet meeting. It happens that it is not one of the matters to be taken up. That just tells you that we have other more important matters [to discuss],” Esperon told reporters. He did state, however, that the administration would look into the emails at some point.

Robredo denied the allegations in an interview transcript released by her office on Monday. She went on to slam Justice Secretary Aguirre for previously accusing her of staying in Lewis’ house during her recent trip to the US. Though she admitted that Lewis supported her during her campaign for Congress in 2013, she said she has not heard from her since.

Duterte has come under fire since taking office in May of 2016 on a promise to wipe out drugs and dealers in the country.

His controversial ‘war on drugs’ has so far led to the death of almost 6,000 people, according to statistics released by the national police in December. Most of those were reportedly killed in vigilante or extrajudicial killings, while others lost their lives in police operations.

Duterte’s campaign has been sharply criticized by the US, the European Union, and the United Nations. The president has lashed out at each of his critics, calling President Barack Obama a “son of a bi**h/whore” in September. He also gave the EU a “f**k you,” telling the bloc it is only criticizing his war on drugs in “atonement” for its own sins, and called UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a “devil.”
Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte accuses the opposition Liberal Party of trying to oust him and install the current vice president Leni Robredo to the presidency.