Marcos impeach case transmitted to Speaker’s office

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MANILA, Philippines —  A verified impeachment complaint filed against President Marcos is now in the office of Speaker Faustino Dy III after being transmitted by House of Representatives secretary-general Cheloy Garafil.

The transmittal marked the start of the chamber’s internal process in performing a constitutional mandate.

“Pursuant to established procedure, the Office of the Secretary General has transmitted the verified impeachment complaint to the Office of Speaker Dy for appropriate action,” Garafil said, in keeping with her administrative role under the Charter, House rules and protocol.

She explained that upon receipt of any impeachment complaint, the Office of the Secretary General should make sure the document is properly entered, recorded and forwarded to the proper office, in the interest of order and due process.

The impeachment complaint, filed by lawyer Andre de Jesus on Jan. 19 and endorsed by House Deputy Minority Leader Jett Nisay of Pusong Pinoy party-list, is the first to be lodged against Marcos.

As per Article 11 of the 1987 Constitution under “Accountability of Public Officers,” the president, vice president, the ombudsman and members of the Supreme Court and constitutional commissions may be removed from their posts through impeachment and conviction for culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust and other high crimes.

All other public officers and employees may be removed from office as provided for by law, but not through impeachment, according to the Constitution.

The impeachment is initiated at the House where any member or citizen can file a verified complaint which shall be endorsed by any House member. This shall be included in the Order of Business within 10 session days and referred to the proper House committee within three session days.

Earlier, the Speaker said the impeachment complaint against Marcos will only cause divisiveness and discord among Filipinos, and might even be weaponized by detractors of the administration. Nevertheless, lawmakers will handle it with impartiality, Dy said.

‘Not ideal’

With the prospect of two simultaneous impeachment proceedings in the coming weeks – one against Marcos and the other against Vice President Sara Duterte – Sen. Risa Hontiveros said she is ready to perform her duty as senator-judge, even if it’s “not an ideal” situation.

“Anything is possible if the two complaints prosper in the House. So there will be two tasks for us here – two impeachment trials,” Hontiveros said in Filipino at the Kapihan sa Senado.

“Of course it’s not an ideal situation. But the principle behind every impeachment complaint, if it reaches the Senate, is the people’s demand for accountability on the part of public officials,” she said. “And nobody can quarrel with that principle of accountability of public officials.”

She said she is confident that the chamber, under the leadership of Senate President Vicente Sotto III, will proceed to trial “forthwith.”

Two impeachment trials may not look good for the country, but it is a sign of a working legislature, Hontiveros said.

She maintained that favorable outcomes of the impeachment trials may even “contribute to the development in the long run.”

The impeachment complaint against Marcos was based supposedly on his being a drug user, his role in the signing of the national budgets with billions in unprogrammed discretionary funds and on his having allowed the turnover of former president Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for crimes against humanity.

The bases for the impeachment of the Vice President were her alleged misuse of confidential funds and her threat to assassinate the President.

The complaint, however, was shelved last year after the Supreme Court ruled that it violated the one year bar rule.

Not surprising

Meanwhile, a grandson of democracy icons Ninoy and Cory Aquino said the prospects of the nation’s top two officials facing impeachment are “not surprising.”

Marcos and Duterte campaigned on a platform of unity in 2022, but their tandem disintegrated on account of conflicting political goals.

“I think there are those of us in the country that don’t find this that surprising,” Kiko Aquino Dee, co-convenor of Tindig Pilipinas, told One News’ “The Big Story” Tuesday night.

“The decisions that all of us made as a people have consequences that we’re visiting now,” he said.

“We are not surprised to be led by Marcos Jr., who is proud of the corrupt administration of his father; that’s why corruption is happening again. And we are not surprised with Duterte, who has endorsed her father’s abuses and has committed her own during her term,” Dee stressed.

Dee, a senior lecturer at the University of the Philippines Department of Political Science, said the impeachment of both top officials might create a “constitutional gray area” in the short term because both complaints must go through the House committee on justice.

“It’s interesting and important to see how the members will process the complaints,” he said.

Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro, who chairs the justice committee, told reporters on Monday that both complaints can be handled at the same time in the lower chamber.

“I have a lot of faith in the members of the justice committee,” Luistro said. “I think the justice committee can confidently discharge its functions as such.”

This isn’t the first time both top officials have faced impeachment complaints simultaneously.

Complaints were filed against both Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2000 at the height of the jueteng issue, against Arroyo and Noli de Castro in 2005 during the “Hello, Garci” scandal and Rodrigo Duterte and Leni Robredo in 2017 over the drug war.

Except for Estrada’s, all of them ended up in the legislative archives.

Dee said this impeachment episode should serve as a sobering reminder for the public heading into the 2028 polls.

“This is a signal that if we are not satisfied with the current leadership, the system gives us a chance to restart our leadership through elections,” he said.

Dee stressed that between 1972 and 1986, during the Marcos Sr. dictatorship, the people had no say in the country’s top leadership. But the first people power revolution, which marks its 40th anniversary next month, changed that.

The Aquino grandson, however, reminded the public that the right to suffrage comes with a responsibility. “Neither President Marcos nor Vice President Duterte passes that standard,” he said. – With Marc Jayson Cayabyab, EJ Macababbad