The impeachment proceedings against Marcos went to the House plenary after the panel was dismissed
Written by Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, A journalist and Erika Mae P. Sinaking
The Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives on Monday accepted a report dismissing the impeachment petitions against President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., which sent the charges to the hearing for a vote on whether to accept or reject the agency’s findings.
39 members of the legislature voted to approve the committee’s report recommending the dismissal of the complaints due to lack of material, while four opposed it. The report was forwarded to the House Rules Committee, which will set the agenda for the meeting.
“Both the impeachment complaint and the related resolution depend on the approval or rejection of the trial,” said Batangas lawyer Gerville R. Luistro, chairman of the Judiciary committee, in a press conference after the vote.
The committee’s decision does not completely dispose of the impeachment request. Under the Constitution, an appeal rejected at the committee level may proceed if at least one-third of the House, or 106 congressmen, vote to reverse the impeachment.
Nevertheless, the chances of the council’s decision to be revoked seem small, as the meeting is full of allies of the President.
These complaints accused Mr. Marcos for benefiting from illegal government contracts, including the postponement of flawed infrastructure projects, and institutionalized corruption through the congressional district budget allocation formula.
Critics say the Judiciary committee acted prematurely by ruling on the merits of the allegations rather than limiting its review to whether the complaints meet constitutional limits.
“This stage of the process is not a trial and it is not a trial,” said the Deputy House Minority Leader and a member of the party. Edgar R. Erice in a statement. “The only question is whether the complaint sets forth facts which, if presumptively admitted, would constitute an indictable offense.”
Ms. Luistro said that the team dismissed these complaints to avoid wasting legal time on allegations that fail to meet constitutional standards.
“This is done to prevent the trial of cases that do not meet the standards required by the laws and the Constitution from taking up valuable time in this committee and in this room,” he told other lawmakers.
He also added that impeachment complaints must be supported by strong evidence rather than speculation.
“An impeachment complaint must not be based on speculation, news reports, or mere allegations,” he said.
Malacañang said he remains confident that the impeachment motion against Mr. Marcos will fail.
“Any decision or resolution that the House of Representatives may reach is not under the authority of the President,” Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro told a news conference in Filipino.
He added that the President expects lawmakers to remain impartial. “The President hopes that members of the House of Representatives will only be guided by the evidence presented and the discussions held in the Judiciary Committee,” he said.
Mrs. Castro said Mr. Marcos is confident that he did not commit an unforgivable crime.
‘CONDUCT RESPONSIBILITY’
As the House decided to dismiss Mr. Marcos, Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio faced a new case on Monday, the third, filed by religious organizations and public bodies accusing them of illegality, corruption and extortion.
The 98-page complaint focuses on claims that Ms.
“It is still the duty of Congress to censure him and remove him from office forever,” Amando Virgil D. Ligutan, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, told reporters after the petition was filed. Party list attorney Leila M. de Lima approved the complaint.
The Office of the Vice President did not immediately respond to a Viber message seeking comment. Mrs. Duterte has denied wrongdoing.
The 98-page case accused the Vice President of embezzling R500 million of secret money allocated to his office from 2022 to 2023, and R112.5 million allocated to the Ministry of Education during his tenure as Secretary.
“In fact, these secret funds went to the Vice President’s people – not secret agents but co-conspirators in a wrongful way,” according to a copy of the complaint.
The plaintiffs also accused him of illegal enrichment, saying his declared salary as a former mayor and vice mayor could not explain the hundreds of millions of pesos allegedly found in his bank accounts.
They also accused him of bribery related to government contracts and threatening to kill Mr. Marcos, First Lady and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, cousin of the President.
The latest complaint adds to increased pressure on Ms Duterte amid calls for more transparency on the use of secret and intelligence funds, said Ederson DT. Tapia, a professor of political science at the University of Makati.
The allegations could reinforce the narrative that has been presented in previous impeachment appeals, he said, noting that repeated filings could keep the case alive in the public arena even if the chances of a conviction remain uncertain.
The two impeachment efforts could deepen political fault lines between Marcos’ allies in the House and Ms. Duterte, who is widely seen as a potential contender in the 2028 presidential election.
Activists and civil society groups filed separate petitions for the removal of the Vice President last week, renewing efforts to remove him from office due to similar allegations of corruption.
Mrs. Duterte was impeached by the House last year after more than one-third of lawmakers supported a fourth impeachment that was quickly filed. to the Senate. After he received a Supreme Court decision dismissing the proceedings, the high court said the lawmakers had violated the constitution by ignoring earlier complaints.
