Duterte faces more impeachment trouble

A Philippine lawmaker on Thursday filed additional charges to his impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte.He accused the president of taking a “defeatist stance’’ in the country’s territorial dispute with China. Representative Gary Alejano alleged that Duterte had “kowtowed and all but capitulated to China’s designs and ambitions’’ in the South China Sea, where Beijing has been reclaiming territory and building structures.“Duterte has permitted China to trample upon our country’s rights and interests, and those of our people, apparently because he is afraid to offend his Chinese friends and/or because he has already made secret deals with them,’’ he said in a supplemental complaint.Alejano alleged that Duterte’s actions threatened the security and territorial integrity of the Philippines, representing betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the constitution. “The president has taken a defeatist stance and openly signalled China to go ahead with whatever it intends to do in the West Philippine Sea,’’ he told a news conference.On March 16, Alejano filed an impeachment complaint against Duterte for alleged abuses and extrajudicial killings under the administration’s campaign against illegal drugs, which has left thousands dead.The complaint, the first to be filed against Duterte since he took office in June also alleged that the 72-year-old president failed to declare some of his properties. It is not likely to pass the House of Representatives, where Duterte’s allies have vowed to block the case at the justice committee, which will determine if it is sufficient in form and substance.Source: NAN