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A day after over two-thirds of the House of Representatives impeached Vice President Sara Duterte, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took pains to insist, over and over again, that neither he nor Malacañang had a hand in it.
“Wala nga akong pakialam ‘don (Like I said, that is none of my business). It’s already in the House. Congressman magdedecide kung ano gagawin niya dahil pananagutan ng House of Representatives ‘yan (Congressmen will decide on what to do because that is the role of the House of Representatives),” Marcos said in response to questions in a press conference that focused mostly on the latest upheaval in Philippine politics, on Thursday, February 6.
“Again, this constant implication that I am somehow giving instructions, making utos [orders]— to do this, do that — that’s not the case at all. That’s not how it works,” he added.
A reporter quizzed Marcos on why he did not think of persuading legislators not to sign the impeachment complaint, which was signed by least 215 lawmakers. After all, Marcos had earlier thumbed down the idea of impeachment.
The first signatory? No less than Marcos’ eldest son, House Senior Deputy Majority Floor Leader Sandro Marcos. Speaker Martin Romualdez, the President’s first cousin, also signed the complaint and presided over session when Duterte was impeached.
Even more lawmakers, such as those who were not physically present at the Batasang Pambansa, are expected to add their names to the already long list.
“The executive cannot have a hand in the impeachment. Walang role ang executive sa impeachment. Of course, did we discuss it with the Speaker? Did we discuss it with the other congressmen? Of course. And that…tinatanong, anong plano ninyo? Ano ba talagang gusto ninyong gawin? And the – nandito na ito, hindi na namin maiwasan,” said Marcos when asked, the first time, if he had a hand in the impeachment.
(The executive cannot have a hand in the impeachment. The executive has no role in an impeachment. Of course, did we discuss it with the Speaker? Did we discuss it with the other congressmen? Of course. And that…they were asking, what’s your plan? What do you really want to do? And the — it’s already here, we can’t avoid it.)
In the Philippines, the executive and the legislative are two separate co-equal branches, with the third being the judiciary.
But the legislative is almost always a supermajority allied with the sitting president. In the Marcos administration, both the House and Senate are comprised of a supermajority that are officially allied with the ruling coalition. Marcos was asked about this reality of Philippine politics.
Again, he insisted he isn’t as powerful as people think of him to be.
“Well, you give me too much credit,” he said.
Several impeachment complaints had been filed against Duterte, months after she left the Marcos Cabinet. The very first impeachment complaint, filed in December 2024, were centered on her alleged misuse of funds, both as Marcos’ first education chief and as Vice President, including confidential funds that the 19th Congress allowed her to get.
The impeachment complaint that secured the nod of a majority of House members accuse Duterte of betraying public trust by threatening to kill Marcos, the First Lady, and Romualdez; of misusing funds; distributing monetary gifts to education department officials; having supposed unexplained wealth; her suppose role in extrajudicial killings in Davao City; alleged “acts of political destabilization”; and “graft and corruption through the totality of Duterte’s conduct.”
Does she ‘deserve’ it?
Over a year before Duterte left the Marcos Cabinet, and before she supposedly contacted a hitman to assassinate the President, his wife, and his cousin if she were killed — Marcos had told reporters that he did not think the Vice President “deserved” to be impeached.
The Presidential Communications Office press release from that November 2023 interview read: “PBBM: Vice President Sara Duterte does not deserve to be impeached.”
Does he still feel the same way?
It doesn’t matter, insisted Marcos.
“It doesn’t matter what I think…. It [impeachment complaint] will have to go through with the procedure. It will go to trial. And we will have the senator-judges and they will hear the case. The prosecutors will come from the House. There will be a defense panel and it will be filed. It doesn’t matter what I think at this point. That was my opinion. That’s my opinion when I was asked that…. None of these had happened yet,” he said.
Not to long ago in November 2024, Marcos told allies in an apparently leaked conversation that he did not think Duterte should be impeached because it “does not make a difference to even one single Filipino life.”
Marcos then said that an impeachment would “tie down” both chambers — after all, House members need to serve as prosecutors while the Senate must serve as the judges. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s a storm in a tea cup,” said Marcos in November 2024.
Marcos made it a point to emphasize that none of his allies filed an impeachment complaint — even as many of them ultimately signed the complaint that impeached Duterte.
Asked why they signed it even if Marcos himself was against an impeachment, Marcos said: “It’s already there. Nandiyan na eh. Ano pang gagawin nila (What else could they do)? And there was a very — clearly a large bloc in Congress at least 215 who wanted to file the impeachment. They did not file a case because I asked them not to. Paikot-ikot na tayo (We’re just going around in circles). I’m sorry.”
Now that the House has impeached Duterte, the Senate, according to the Constitution, must act on it. That means they’ll need to convene as an impeachment trial court.
The ongoing debate is when it’ll happen. Congress, after all, is on recess and will not resume session until June 2. Session for the 19th Congress ends just under two weeks later on June 13, 2025. The 20th Congress — which will have a different composition — will commence session in late July 2025.
The ‘interested observer’
Marcos insisted that he could not answer questions about what the Senate would do, or how the Senate would make sure that impeachment does not get in the way of their other duties as the upper chamber of Congress.
“At least at this point, it’s in the Senate, you have to ask that from the Senate. If you’re going to ask about the prosecution’s case, I don’t know if you’ll get an answer right now because they only just started. But they are the ones that you should be asking,” he said.
“From this point on, I’m just a very interested observer. But again, I don’t appear, I will not be part of it, not – there will be no representation from the executive. Why should there be?” added the President, who at times seemed either humored or frustrated by the questions about Duterte’s impeachment.
Marcos did say, however, that he would call for a special sessions should the Senate ask for one.
In the end, Marcos sought to frame the movements at the House — including the decisions made by his eldest son — as a result of duty.
Recalling his advice for the newbie legislator, Marcos said: “The process has already begun. So, it’s your duty now to support that process. So, do your duty…. Do your duty. You have to support the process. You are constitutionally mandated to carry out that process. And you’re a congressman, so do your duty.”
– Rappler.com
