Manila, Philippines – The House leadership on Monday, Jan. 26, referred two impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to the House committee on justice, hurdling the first crucial step in the impeachment proceedings.
The Makabayan bloc, one of the two groups of petitioners, lauded the decision as a victory after earlier facing worries that they were late in the game after a first impeachment complaint was filed last week and after their first attempt to file the suit was ignored.
Current rules impose a ban against suing the president and attempting to remove him from office more than once in a year.
Convening in a plenary, lawmakers moved to refer both complaints to the House panel which has up to 60 session days to decide on the form and substance.
“I feel good kasi alam naman namin na talaga na walang dahilan para hindi mangyari ito,” ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio told reporters on the sidelines of the House session Monday evening.
“Finally sa halip na pagtalunan pa ang mga rules, procedural matters and so on, kailangan pagusapan na lang natin yung nilalaman mismo nung impeachment complaint laban kay Pangulong Marcos, Jr.,” he added.
The matter was discussed for almost four hours since legislators started session at 3 p.m., the first for the year after a month-long break.
The transmittal ended days of drama that saw the Makabayan bloc lobbying for the House leadership to consider its impeachment complaint against Marcos.
The Makabayan bloc-endorsed impeachment complaint is the second in a string of suits against Marcos in a span of one week.
Private lawyer Andre de Jesus last Jan. 19 sought to remove Marcos from office on several grounds, including the latter’s alleged involvement in the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte and subsequent turnover to the International Criminal Court at The Hague in Netherlands.
But that first suit, endorsed by a House deputy minority leader, was viewed by critics as a weak bid to oust Marcos, fanning speculation from the Duterte camp that it was a smokescreen meant to undermine successive impeachment complaints and shield the president from more suits given the one-year ban on the impeachment proceedings.
Both complaints were included in the day’s agenda but not after facing earlier roadblocks.
Earlier on Monday, House Secretary General Cheloy Garafil personally received the second impeachment complaint this time after her staff last week rejected the submission citing lack of authority.
But Tinio said the group faced a new hurdle: The absence of a guarantee from Garafil that their suit will be referred to the House leadership.
“Wala nang duda rito, filed and received by the Office of the Secretary General,” Tinio told journalists at the Batasang Pambansa on Monday morning.
“Inaasahan natin ngayong natanggap na niya immediate referral to the Speaker. However, hindi tayo nakakuha ng definite commitment kay Secretary General na ire-refer niya kaagad kay Speaker ang complaint. So hindi natin malaman kung bakit,” he added.
[TRANSLATION:
There is no doubt now that this has been filed and received by the Office of the Secretary General.
We expect that there will be an immediate referral to the Speaker.
However, we did not get a definite commitment from the Secretary General that she will immediately refer this complaint to the Speaker. We do not understand why.]
Garafil’s office has yet to respond to a request for comment.
Missing today’s plenary referral could have meant shelving the second suit, and being outcompeted by a first impeachment complaint in the race to be tackled by the House committee on justice – a crucial tipping point where the one-year ban against more suits against the president will be triggered.
“Sabi namin paano ho yan baka magkaron ng referral mamaya hindi na kami makasama mamadaliin nyo yung referral to trigger the one-year ban, sabi niya labas na sa kanya yun,” BAYAN president Renato Reyes, Jr. told reporters.
[TRANSLATION: We asked how can this be we fear that there could be another referral later and we will be excluded – the referral of another complaint will be railroaded to trigger the one-year ban. She said that is out of her control.]
Lawmakers Tinio and Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Sarah Jane Elago then wrote a separate letter seeking the intervention of the House Speaker.
Makabayan’s impeachment bid to remove Marcos from office was anchored on a single ground which, they said, was “the most expansive and flexible”: Betrayal of public trust.
The complainants alleged the president betrayed public trust because of his purported involvement in the corruption scheme that concentrated billions of pesos worth of flood control contracts to a few companies linked to congressmen and public works officials.
PRESIDENT’S SON INHIBITS
Meanwhile, presidential son and House majority leader Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” A. Marcos has inhibited himself from all discussions, deliberations, and proceedings of the House Committee on Rules involving the impeachment complaints filed against his father.
“In view of the impeachment complaints filed against President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., who is my father, I have decided to formally recuse myself from all discussions, deliberations, and proceedings of the House Committee on Rules insofar as these complaints are concerned,” said Marcos, who is also the chairman of the House Committee on Rules.
The Ilocos Norte legislator said the move was not mandated by House rules, but “was guided by a broader responsibility to protect institutional integrity and public trust.”
