MANILA – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Vice President Sara Duterte should personally attend her impeachment trial, saying it would make it easier to clarify the allegations against her.

In a report, it said that Marcos said hearing directly from the respondent would help the proceedings.

“Of course, it would be much easier to get to the bottom of everything if you [could] speak to the accused directly,” Marcos said.

“And the accused can answer directly, not through secondary channels, not through the lawyers. If the accused can respond directly, of course, the process will become clearer and easier,” he added.

Marcos, who served as a senator-judge during the 2012 impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, clarified that he was expressing a personal opinion and not a legal one.

“But that’s just my own opinion and that’s not a legal opinion because I’m not a lawyer,” he said.

The President said that if he were in Duterte’s position, he would choose to appear before the impeachment court even if advised otherwise by his lawyers.

“But if I’m just trying to put myself in that position, I would probably, myself, if it was me being accused, almost insist — even over the advice of lawyers,” he said.

“If they advised me not to appear, I would insist on appearing. Kasi kaya ko naman sagutin, sige sagutin natin,” he added.

The Senate impeachment court has ordered Duterte to appear at the formal opening of her impeachment trial on Monday, July 6, either personally or through legal counsel, pursuant to the Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials and the writ of summons issued on May 19.

The trial is scheduled to be held every Monday to Wednesday at 2 p.m. until the President’s fifth State of the Nation Address on July 27, after which proceedings will shift to Tuesdays through Thursdays.

Meanwhile, Marcos said his administration’s campaign against corruption remains ongoing, particularly in relation to alleged anomalies in flood control projects.

“Well, I cannot say that we have done enough because we are not done yet. Unfortunately, the more we look, the more we find,” he said.

“And it is going already back beyond my administration, beyond my term,” he added.

Marcos said concerns over irregularities in flood control projects had already been recognized in previous years but were not acted upon.

“And back to about that time, 2017 to 2018, President Duterte acknowledged that there were great problems in terms of flood control projects. Pero wala namang nangyari,” he said.

“Having acknowledged it, it did not find accountability in anybody. So I guess that was left up to me to do. And so we are still doing it. We’re still working on it,” he added.

Responding to allegations of selective justice, Marcos said it was his administration that initiated investigations into the alleged irregularities.

“I’m the one who exposed all of this,” he said.

He also said his administration was the first to pursue legal action against those allegedly involved.

“And I’m the only one [who] has started to do anything about this. Bakit ang mga nakaraang Pangulo, nakita pa kayong ginawang gano’n? Meron ba silang ikinulong? Meron ba silang pi-freeze na account? Meron ba silang mga investigation na ginawa? Wala. Sa akin lang,” he said.

“Tapos sasabihin, ako daw ang may kagagawan. Eh kung talagang raket ko yun, ba’t ko sisiraan yung raket ko? Di ba? That makes absolutely no sense,” he added.