Two House leaders on Saturday played down reported impeachment talk against President Marcos, with one describing it as “vague, shapeless, and formless.”
“First of all, we don’t even know who intends to file it. That’s why these discussions are very vague, shapeless, and formless,” Lanao del Sur First District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said at a forum on Saturday, Jan. 17.
“It’s hopeless and shapeless, and we don’t even know what prompted these possible individuals. We don’t know what they can directly attribute to the President that would amount to an impeachment complaint,” added Adiong, who chairs the House committee on electoral reforms and suffrage.
House Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice earlier disclosed that a group had approached him regarding an alleged impeachment complaint and asked whether he was willing to endorse it once filed.
Erice said the filing would be a “collective action” of a pro–Vice President Sara Duterte group and would anchor on alleged “betrayal of public trust” related to past national budget issues.
Adiong, however, brushed this off, noting that no details were provided on which specific impeachable offenses would be cited. “It’s really hard,” he said, adding that he sees no grounds to impeach the President.
“We don’t even know what actually prompted these groups or individuals to file, nor what they could attribute directly to the President that would amount to an impeachable offense,” Adiong said.
Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre echoed Adiong’s view, saying that as a “third-person observer,” he sees no basis for filing an impeachment complaint against President Marcos.
“Unlike the previous impeachment of the Vice President, it was preceded by a series of investigations. At some point, it became clear that impeachment was the logical and principled consequence of those investigations,” Acidre said.
“At this point, there is no incident and no basis, to say the least, for the impeachment of the President,” he added.
Acidre said any impeachment talk against the President or the Vice President is premature since no complaint has been filed.
“Personally, the decision of each congressman does not only depend on how many sign, but more importantly on what is stated in the impeachment complaint,” said Acidre, who chairs the House committee on higher and technical education.
Adiong added: “Filing is one thing, but securing support is another.”
