Malacanang said the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte is beyond the control of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr..

“What the President said is clear from the very start. He does not favor impeachment because there may be other legal remedies to hold public officials accountable. But now that the Vice President is already impeached, this is out of the President’s hands,” Press Undersecretary Claire Castro Castro said during a press briefing.

Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives on February 5, with over 200 congressmen endorsing the complaint against her. She was accused of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and other high crimes mainly over alleged misuse of around P612.5 million worth of confidential funds and threatening to kill Marcos, First Lady Liza, and the President’s cousin and Speaker, Leyte First District Rep. Martin Romualdez.

(What the President said is a mere suggestion. But he favors due process.)

Castro said that the President does not have the authority over any impeachment proceeding.

“The impeachment trial is not the business of the Executive. Hindi po makikialam ang Pangulo patungkol po diyan, pero sinabi po niya na dapat umandar ang proseso, irespeto ang due process,” Castro said.

The Vice President, for her part, said she is looking forward to her impeachment trial in the upcoming 20th Congress because she “wants a bloodbath.”