MANILA – Malacañang is hoping that Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s remarks about wanting a “bloodbath” in her impeachment trial were meant as a figure of speech.
According to Presidential Communications Office’s Undersecretary Claire Castro, if Duterte-Carpio truly desires to have intense exchanges during the trial, she just let things unfold.
“Medyo may pagka-bayolente ang tugon ng ating Bise Presidente. We hope it’s just a figure of speech,” Castro said in a media briefing at the Malacañang Palace on Monday.
“Kung ‘yan naman po ang nais niya at talaga naman pong magkakaroon ng balitaktakan kapag nagkaroon ng impeachment trial, hayaan na lang po natin itong gumulong,” she added.
Duterte-Carpio earlier said she is looking forward to her impeachment trial in the upcoming 20th Congress because she “wants a bloodbath”,’ noting that her legal team is on “full throttle” in their preparations.
The impeachment complaint filed by the House of Representatives includes issues surrounding the use of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings in Davao City, and her “assassination” remarks against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Meanwhile, former senator and ML party-list representative Leila de Lima criticized Duterte-Carpio over her remarks that she wanted a bloodbath in her impeachment trial.
“Dyan naman sila magaling eh: braggadocio, mindless arrogance, toxic rhetoric, violence,” de Lima said in a social media post. “In an impeachment trial, the only one who is on trial is the person impeached. So there can be no bloodbath.”
“If any blood is spilled, it can only be that of the person impeached, not the prosecutors’, not the senators-judges’, not the administration’s, not the people’s,” she added.
“We will make sure of that. And VP Sara is always welcome to witness how her trial will be a serious affair where her rights are respected and the proceedings fair, devoid of the drama and chaos that she is asking her defense team to orchestrate,” she further said./PN
