WATCH | After Ombudsman’s refusal to step down with President, Duterte says ‘we will file impeachment case’ vs Morales

October 4, 2017 - 9:57 PM
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File photos of President Rodrigo Duterte (from Reuters) and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales (from Philstar)

MANILA, Philippines — After Conchita Carpio-Morales rejected the chief executive’s offer for her to step down with him, President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he would lead the move to oust the Ombudsman by filing an impeachment complaint against her.

READ RELATED STORY: PATIBONG | Amid moves vs her office, Ombudsman won’t quit, says Du30 offer for her to step down with him just a trap

“(W)e will file an impeachment case against her and I would tend to believe that she was part of the conspiracy, ito…itong fabricated papers ni…[the fabricated papers of],” the chief executive said, referring to the documents held by Antonio Trillanes IV that allegedly contained information about Duterte’s bank transactions amounting to over P2.2 billion.

The President reiterated on Wednesday that he had no such huge sum. “In the end, to their sorrow, they would discover that there’s no such thing as that amount.”

He chided the Ombudsman for allowing her office to issue statements related to the investigation of the President and his family’s wealth based on Trillanes’ 2016 plunder complaint even when the inquiry was still on-going and there was no clearance from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to release any bank records related to the case.

Ito naman si Conchita. Tawag ko sa kanya Conchita eh. She was part of — Remember na walang AMLC clearance. So walang statement dapat lumabas kay sa may billion ako o piso lang galing diyan sa Central Bank,” Duterte said.

Alam mo [You know], you’re not supposed to — I said to her chagrin, she will realize that,” he said.

(H)indi siya dapat pumasok diyan lalo na [She should not have entered into that] if the evidence is illegally obtained. AMLC says wala sila. Naghugas ng kamay. So saan mo kinuha? [The AMLC says it didn’t have it, It already washed its hands of the release of the information. So where did you get it?] Because the only source is AMLC,” the President added, referring to the information about his alleged bank transactions.

Asked by media what would be the grounds for Morales’ impeachment, the President said selective justice, use of falsified documents, and graft.

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