Kabataan party-list: Duterte Youth only serves ex-president’s interest
Kabataan Party-list post on its Facebook page.
TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte — The Duterte Youth party-list’s decision to craft an impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. only shows that the group serves the Duterte family’s interests and not the youth.
That’s what the Kabataan party-list said on Thursday.
Kabataan first nominee Renee Co said in a statement that there are many issues that should have prompted the group to question Marcos, but the personalities involved with Duterte Youth only raised concerns when former President Rodrigo Duterte was taken into custody by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This, Co said, only shows that the party-list is indeed “Duterte Youth.”
“To be honest, Marcos Jr. has a lot of faults that he should be held accountable for, like the Maharlika Investment Scam, corruption in the budget, the jeepney phaseout, and others. But the Duterte Youth is silent here, and even absent during congressional hearings. They only decided to move when their bosses were attacked. They are literally Duterte youth — minions of Dutertes,” Co said in Filipino.
According to Co, she believes the Duterte Youth only intends to divert discussions from the existing and verified articles of impeachment against Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, by filing a separate complaint against Marcos.
“They are just diverting discussions from the impeachment case against Sara Duterte which has been peppered with strong evidence. This should be immediately discussed by the impeachment court,” Co said.
`Both accountable’
“Marcos will have his time of judgment as well, but Sara’s time is already up. We should not be made to pick between the two. Both of them should be held accountable, whatever their surname is,” she added.
Co’s statement came hours after Duterte Youth showed photos of former lawmaker Marie Cardema and ex-National Youth Commission chairperson Ronald Cardema holding the front page of the “verified impeachment complaint.”
Initially, it was unclear if the supposedly verified complaint has reached the office of House Secretary General Reginald Velasco as the session is currently adjourned. Eventually, the Duterte Youth party-list said that it has not formally submitted the complaint since Velasco was not personally there to receive it.
READ: Duterte allies to file impeachment complaint vs Marcos
House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said that there is not much that can be done regarding the impeachment complaint as Congress is currently not in session.
Congress will resume session by June 2, but the 19th Congress will end its session by June 13 — which means that there will only be a maximum of nine session days remaining. June 12 is a holiday.
According to Romualdez, even the Office of the Secretary General Reginald Velasco is currently on a seminar — which means they cannot receive complaints as of now.
READ: Not much to do with impeachment raps vs Marcos, session in break
Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre meanwhile questioned the timing of the complaint, asking why this petition was filed days before the elections.
READ: Acidre questions timing of impeachment case vs Marcos
Once partners
Co meanwhile reminded the public that the Dutertes and Marcoses were once partners — noting that it was the administration that provided the confidential funds to Duterte’s offices.
“The Marcoses and Dutertes are partners in crime. Marcos approved the transfer of funds to fill Duterte’s confidential fund request. They both shuffled the budget and tied the Philippines to foreign countries, to the US and China. Sara may have been impeached first, but Marcos must be held accountable too,” she said.
“This is only possible if the youth has a voice in Congress and in the Senate. The unity of Filipinos would end the gameplay of dynasties in power,” she added.
The older Duterte was detained by local authorities after he arrived back at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 last March 11. The International Criminal Police Organization enforced the arrest order from the ICC.
The ICC arrest order was issued due to the crimes against humanity raps filed against Duterte, for his role in the bloody drug war.
The younger Duterte meanwhile was impeached by the House last February 5 after 215 lawmakers filed and verified a fourth impeachment complaint.
One of the articles of impeachment was hinged on allegations that there were confidential fund (CF) irregularities hounding Duterte’s offices — the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and previously, the Department of Education (DepEd). /MR
