The House of Representatives on Wednesday dismissed two impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., with lawmakers voting overwhelmingly to junk the cases for lack of substance after three days of deliberations by the House Committee on Justice.
Malacañang welcomed the committee’s decision to declare both complaints “insufficient in substance,” saying due process was followed.
Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said Mr. Marcos was “pleased” that lawmakers examined the accusations and found them lacking factual and legal basis.
“The President is confident that he did not commit any impeachable offense. For now, he is focused on lifting the country’s economy,” Castro said, adding that Marcos’ message was to “move forward.”
Under the Constitution, an impeachment complaint must hurdle the House before it can proceed to a Senate trial, where conviction would result in removal from office and a lifetime ban from public service.
The administration party controls both houses of Congress at present.
House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos declined to comment on the panel’s decision on the complaints against his father, saying he lacked the moral authority to do so.
“Let’s leave it up to the wisdom of the Justice Committee and the other members of the House to comment on that. But as far as I am concerned, I think it’s best for me not to comment,” he told reporters.
Last month, the younger Marcos said he would not participate in the deliberations on the impeachment complaints to preserve the integrity of the House.
The Marcos administration is facing a public firestorm over ghost infrastructure projects to help control floods in the archipelago country, where entire towns were swallowed up in floodwaters last year, as the President denied allegations he swindled taxpayers out of billions of public funds.
The first complaint, filed by lawyer Andre de Jesus, and the second, lodged by the Makabayan bloc led by former Gabriela party-list representative Liza Maza, accused the elder Marcos of constitutional violations.
They included alleged involvement in anomalous flood control projects and the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte and his transfer to the International Criminal Court.
In a 42-1 vote, with three abstentions, the justice committee declared the De Jesus complaint insufficient in substance.
The panel likewise dismissed the Makabayan complaint after a motion to declare it sufficient failed, with only seven members voting in favor and 39 against, and no abstentions.
Committee vice chairperson Rep. Ysabel Zamora said the complaints failed to show that the President committed acts that would warrant impeachment.
“It is clear from the complaint that the President did not do any overt act that shows that he directed” alleged corruption schemes, Zamora said during the hearing. “Having an imperfect policy direction is not an impeachable offense.”
Pampanga Rep. Alyssa “Mica” Gonzales echoed the assessment, saying the complaints did not establish Marcos’ personal participation in what was described as a “systematic scheme of corruption.”
“The President’s specific role was never disclosed or included in the allegations,” she said.
Before the vote, Committee Chairperson and Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro urged members to weigh the matter carefully, calling the decision both legal and moral.
“Let us vote not out of convenience. Let us vote with our conscience,” Luistro said, adding that the panel allowed wide-ranging discussions to ensure all views were heard.
Makabayan bloc lawmakers criticized the ruling, with Rep. Sarah Elago calling the dismissal “a clear attempt to block the accountability process.”
“The real reason the majority refuses to let the complaints proceed… is clear: the administration’s allies do not want President Marcos Jr. to explain and answer the serious allegations against him,” she said.
The committee hearing came just two days after a pair of impeachment complaints hit Vice President Sara Duterte, Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter who is widely considered a possible presidential contender in 2028.
The other case against Mr. Marcos thrown out on Wednesday, filed by De Jesus and endorsed by Pusong Pinoy party-list Rep. Jernie Jett Nisay, had cited not only Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest, but unproven allegations of drug abuse by the President.
In the Philippines, any citizen can file an impeachment complaint provided it is endorsed by one of the more than 300 members of Congress.
Dennis Coronacion, chair of the political science department at Manila’s University of Santo Tomas, told Agence France-Presse last month that the complaints had little chance of advancing.
“This … has a very slim chance of getting the approval of the House Committee on Justice and (even less) so, in the plenary, because the president still enjoys the support of the members of the House of Representatives,” he said.
The second complaint was lodged by the Makabayan bloc led by former Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza. Deputy Minority Leader and Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice then moved that the panel find the Makabayan complaint sufficient in substance.
Before the voting, panel chairperson Rep. Gerville Luistro of Batangas impressed upon her panel members the “immense weight of the task (at hand).”
She said such a task calls upon each member to exercise his or her “sound discretion, individual appreciation of the facts, allegations and attachments” of the impeachment petitions.
“Hindi lang ito usapin ng legalidad. Ito ay usapin ding politikal at moral (This is not just a matter of legality. It is also a political and moral issue). Let us vote not out of convenience, let us vote with your conscience,” she said.
“Isipin natin ang kapakanan ng bawat Filipino (Let’s think about the welfare of every Filipino). Let us prove that in this hall, the interest of the Filipino people comes first,” Luistro stressed.
Luistro pointed out that as presiding officer of the three-day hearings, she purposely chose to be liberal “to allow ventilation of all views for a better and wider perspective (of the complaints).”
She added that the deliberations were “extensive and exhaustive.”
PCO’s Castro said the President was “pleased” that members of the House examined the accusations one by one and determined that the complaints lacked factual and legal basis.
“Ang Pangulo kumpiyansa na wala siyang ginawang impeachable offense. Sa ngayon tutok po ang Pangulo sa pag-angat ng ekonomiya ng bansa,” Castro said.
(The President is confident that he did not commit any impeachable offense. For now, the President is focused on lifting the country’s economy.)
“Kaya sabi po niya (So he said), let’s move forward,” she added.
Castro said Mr. Marcos did not watch the House proceedings as he was attending two engagements at the time, citing that he was briefed afterward on the outcome.
“Natuwa po siya, ang sabi nga po niya ay nasunod ang proseso at ‘yun naman po talaga ang gusto ng Pangulo (He was pleased. He said the process was followed and that is really what the President wants),” Castro said.
She rejected claims by Palace critics that the complaints were dismissed because the President supposedly controls the numbers in the House, saying even lawmakers who are not administration allies acknowledged the weakness of the accusations.
Castro cited statements from constitutional lawyers, including public interest and human rights lawyer Dino de Leon and other legal experts, who said the complaints were “weak” and lacked merit.
Asked why Mr. Marcos did not form a legal defense team, Castro said the President believed he had done nothing wrong and his actions were in accordance with the law, but emphasized that proceedings in the House Committee on Justice are beyond his control.
“Sa kanyang pagkakaalam, kumpiyansa siya na wala siyang ginawang mali at lahat naman po ay naayon sa batas (To his knowledge, he is confident that he did nothing wrong and everything is in accordance with the law),” she said.
“Kung ano man ang mangyayari sa House Committee on Justice, hindi naman po niya alam at hindi naman niya hawak ‘yun (Whatever happens in the House Committee on Justice, he doesn’t know about it and he doesn’t have control over it),” Castro added. With AFP
