Will Duterte be impeached? Not likely, but the Philippines has a rich history of trying to topple presidents
- The president is popular and his allies dominate the lower house of Congress, but a similar situation failed to save former leader Joseph Estrada
- Impeachment threats recently surfaced after Duterte said he would allow Chinese fishermen to fish within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone
“For all other presidents after [Estrada, the threat of impeachment] is like a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads because of what had happened to [him],” Congressman Carlos Isagani Zarate told the South China Morning Post.
The congressman, who represents the left-wing party-list group Bayan Muna, pointed out that Estrada was impeached in December 2000 despite his high popularity rating and his allies’ control of the House.
Because of this, Zarate said, “Malacanang Palace always makes sure the Speaker of the House is their man to preclude what happened to [Estrada]”. Ironically, Manuel Villar, the then speaker who led Estrada’s impeachment, was his most trusted ally.
His comments came after a Chinese ship allegedly rammed a Philippine fishing vessel on June 9, causing it to sink. The Chinese ship then left the scene, abandoning the 22 Filipino fishermen to be rescued by a passing Vietnamese ship. Duterte has downplayed the incident, calling it “just a collision”.
