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January 23, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Two more impeachment complaints against President Marcos were brought to the office of the House secretary general yesterday but were not accepted, due to the absence of the receiving official.
Former Bayan Muna congressmen Teddy Casiño and Neri Colmenares were unable to lodge their 37-page impeachment complaint, and so were supporters of Vice President Sara Duterte led by former Ilocos Sur governor Luis “Chavit” Singson and former congressman Mike Defensor.
The reason: secretary general Cheloy Garafil was not around to receive the complaints because she is in Taiwan for an event.
One of Garafil’s tasks as House secretary general is to receive a verified and duly-endorsed impeachment complaint and transmit it immediately to the Office of the Speaker.
“It is not our fault that your secretary general is absent. Under the Constitution, under the rules, it is enough that we submit to your office,” Casiño recalled telling Garafil’s staff.
“For us, that impeachment complaint is deemed filed. Why? Because we delivered it to the Office of the Secretary General,” Colmenares said.
“We are questioning their motive why they do not want to receive it,” Colmenares said over radio dzBB.
“We do not see any reason for them not to receive the impeachment complaint. They should receive it and allow the House to do what it has to do on the complaint. Let the House decide whether it will dismiss it or refer it to the appropriate committee for proper action,” he said.
“The Constitution and the rules of the House did not say that the sec gen should be physically present to receive the complaint. We followed that. We went to the office of the sec gen but they did not want to receive it because, according to them, the sec gen is not around. But nowhere in the rules of the House did it say that the sec gen physically should receive it. It’s just the office of the sec gen,” Colmenares said.
“Receiving the complaint is just ministerial and it is highly suspicious for them not to receive it,” he added.
After failing to have their complaint logged, Singson and Defensor held a press conference to denounce massive corruption in the Marcos administration.
“My position is that we will use other option. We have other legal options. Well, we will go to the Supreme Court. That is one legal option,” Defensor said over radio dzRH without elaborating.
The first impeachment complaint filed by private lawyer Andre de Jesus has been forwarded by Garafil to the office of Speaker Faustino Dy III, a signal that the internal process in handling impeachment suits in the chamber has already begun.
Garafil reportedly has a scheduled engagement in Taiwan today.
Endorsed
Makabayan bloc Reps. Sarah Elago of women’s group Gabriela party-list, Renee Co of Kabataan party-list and Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers party-list have endorsed the complaint filed by Colmenares and Defensor.
The three articles of impeachment mentioned in the Makabayan-backed suit were institutionalizing systemic corruption and patronage, abuse of discretionary power over unprogrammed appropriations and direct personal involvement in kickback schemes.
A video shared by Makabayan lawmakers showed executive director Jose Marmoi Salonga politely refusing to accept the impeachment document from Tinio, saying he “has no authority” to receive it.
Tinio was shown trying to have the document marked “received” by a clerk, but he was not entertained.
After this, the complainants and endorsers simply decided to leave the document on a desk.
On Garafil’s absence, Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said this should not affect the constitutional handling of impeachment matters.
“Impeachment is a serious constitutional mechanism,” Adiong said. “The House will continue to discharge its duties in an orderly, rules-based and transparent manner.”
He emphasized that the impeachment complaint filed against President Marcos was being handled in accordance with the 1987 Constitution and long-standing House rules.
He said that once an impeachment complaint is filed, the House is required to act on it through established procedures, including referral to the committee on justice for determination of sufficiency in form and substance.
“Referral to the committee on justice is a standard and substantive step in the impeachment process. It initiates formal review and does not pre-judge any outcome,” Adiong, chairman of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms, said.
At Malacañang, Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro maintained that the President did not commit any impeachable offense.
Castro said the complainants should prove the existence of the so-called “baselined-balanced-managed or BBM parametric formula” labeled by critics as “pork barrel by design.”– Alexis Romero
