By Mario Casayuran

President Duterte knows he cannot jail those who would seek his impeachment arising from his statement allowing China to fish in the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Senator Panfilo M. Lacson said Friday.

Lacson said “the President knows he cannot do it, and we know he would not do it.”

“The President is a lawyer,” he stressed.

“His (Duterte’s) problem is when one third of the members of the House of Representatives feel more challenged than afraid of his threat. A bigger problem is when16 senators are convinced by the evidence presented during the trial. Everything of course is hypothetical,’’ Lacson said.

Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III said former Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Albertt del Rosario could file an impeachment case against the Chief Executive if he so desires.

“Let him file an impeachment case if he thinks so. I will not comment because its improper for a Senator to speak about it considering any impeachment case will make the Senate an impeachment Court,’’ Sotto explained.

In a related development, opposition Senator Francis N. Pangilinan that all this talk of war erupting in the South China Sea (SCS) over China’s refusal to abide by a UN Arbitration Court decision rejecting China’s historical claim over most parts of the South China Sea (SCS) and declared the Philippines winner in their territorial dispute.

The Philippines’ West Philippine Sea (WPS) is part of the SCS.

Lacson said he favored the implementation of the RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty which would allow the US to send its air and naval might to the SCS.

China would protest the occasional passage by US air and naval crafts near the Philippines, invoking the right of innocent passage.

Lacson had said the entry of the US military might in the SCS would create a balance of power in the area and assured it would not trigger World War III.

For opposition Senator Francis N. Pangilinan, all this talk of war was unfounded.

“Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam all have asserted sovereignty in these disputed waters repeatedly and yet no war has been declared by any of these countries. To say that asserting our legitimate claim over our exclusive economic zone will lead to war is meant to justify our subservience and docility,’’ he said.

“This is unacceptable. Mabuti pa ang Indonesia at Vietnam ipinaglalaban ang nga mangingisda nila,’’ he added. (Compared to Philippines that decided to allow a joint investigation into the ramming by a Chinese vessel of a Filipino fishing vessel and later abandoning the 22 Filipino fishermen, Indonesia and Vietnam fought for the interests of their fishermen.)

Del Rosario was recently refused entry into Hong Kong by immigration authorities.

He and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales had filed a complaint against Chinese President Xi Jinping of a crime against humanity before the International Criminal Court.

Read more: Duterte: File an impeachment, I’ll have you arrested