President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said that he does not have power to have lawmakers involved in corruption as they belong to a separate branch of government.

“Alam mo, let’s go to political law. I have no business investigating congressmen. They belong to a separate organ of government which is co-equal with the president pati ang Supreme Court,” he said.

Duterte said he has received a list of names of “corrupt” congressmen from the Commissioner Greco Belgica of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC).

The President said that his only recourse for erring lawmakers is to submit the findings to the Office of the Ombudsman.

“Ngayon kung itapon mo sa akin, I have no other recourse, itapon ko din ‘yan sa Ombudsman. I cannot investigate congressmen. It will be an encroachment of the separation of powers. Hindi ako puwede,” he said.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that the government task force against corruption can drop the names of lawmakers involved in corruption.

“It’s not the congressmen himself who is being investigated. In different perspective, if it’s a particular transaction being investigated, for example, by the PACC or the task force against corruption. And in the course of the investigation it will turn out that some members of the legislature is involved in a particular corrupt practice or transaction, I think it is within the power of the task force to mention these members of Congress who are allegedly involved,” Guevarra said.