4 hours ago
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ILOILO CITY — House Senior Deputy Majority Leader Lorenz Defensor said there are no grounds so far that would warrant the impeachment of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Defensor, a member of the House prosecution panel on the impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, stressed that an impeachment against the president must be based on constitutional violations, not political retaliation.
“At the moment, I do not see any impeachable offense against the president. I do not see any clear violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, or high crimes,” he said.
Defensor said the House should carefully examine the contents of any impeachment complaint and assess whether there are grounds strong enough for it to proceed.
“Right now, many things are happening, and we must be careful about those who file impeachment complaints out of revenge,” he said.
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“What’s important is that the offense allegedly committed by a president is a violation of the Constitution and not just an ordinary crime — that is what we must look at first,” he added.
Cavite 4th District Rep. Francisco Barzaga earlier disclosed that he will file an impeachment complaint against President Marcos for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution over alleged corruption linked to flood control projects.
Meanwhile, Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said the president is currently too focused on national priorities to pay attention to Barzaga’s supposed plan to pursue impeachment.
