MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte is willing to step down if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the quo warranto petition that suspended lawyer Elly Pamatong filed against him.
In a speech at the anniversary celebration of the Office of the Solicitor General, the President said he would just “go home” because he was likely “due for ouster.”
“May problema ako kasi ang balita ko sa Supreme Court ready na daw iyong decision sa quo warranto at I’m also due for ouster, iyong finayl ni Pamatong,” Duterte said. “Ah ’di bale, uuwi na lang ako sa amin. I would be happy to step down.”
“Delikado rin ako kay Pamatong. Patong-patong iyang problema natin pero sige lang,” he added. “Kung hanggang diyan lang ako, I live my destiny. For all you know, I would be happy to step down.”
In his petition, Pamatong claimed Duterte usurped the powers of the chief executive for having an illegal certificate of candidacy (COC) during the 2016 elections.
Duterte lacked the constitutional authority to “represent the government in any capacity” because his COC was filed late and was “never approved” by the Commission on Elections en banc, Pamatong added.
Comelec en banc accepted Duterte as substitute for anticrime advocate Martin Diño – now Interior undersecretary – in December 2015. Duterte ended up winning the polls with more than 16 million votes.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque has assured the high court that Duterte will submit his reply to the petition.
Pamatong’s plea was “headed to the dust bin” since only the solicitor general, public prosecutors, and a person claiming entitlement to an allegedly usurped position are allowed to file a quo warranto petition, as stated in the Rules of Court, Roque said.
The president and the vice president may face a quo warranto petition under Presidential Electoral Tribunal rules, the Supreme Court said in its ruling that favored a similar petition and in effect ousted Maria Lourdes Sereno as chief justice./PN
