‘Truth prevailed after House junked Marcos impeach raps’

MANILA, Philippines — The truth prevailed in the decision of lawmakers to junk the “baseless” impeachment complaints against President Marcos despite claims to the contrary by administration critics, Malacañang said yesterday.

Voting 284-8 with four abstentions, the House of Representatives upheld last Tuesday the dismissal of two impeachment complaints against Marcos for being insufficient in substance.

According to House justice committee chairperson and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, the complaints did not establish any factual nexus between Marcos and an impeachable offense and merely presented policy disagreements and generalized accusations.

Makabayan bloc lawmakers who endorsed one of the complaints assailed the dismissal of the cases, saying the arguments supporting them were “dishonest” and meant to “protect” Marcos.

“Sorry, but the truth came out,” Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said at a press briefing when asked for her message to critics of the ruling.

Castro said even some legal experts and constitutionalists thought that the impeachment complaints against the President were “baseless.”

“These kinds of fora cannot be used for fishing expeditions,” the Palace press officer added.

The two complaints alleged that Marcos betrayed public trust and committed culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption.

The first complaint, filed by lawyer Andre de Jesus and endorsed by Pusong Pinoy Rep. Jett Nisay, cited the supposed misuse of unprogrammed appropriations and the “surrender” of former president Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC). It also questioned the President’s fitness to perform his mandate.

Another complaint filed by former Gabriela party-list representative Liza Maza and other activists – and endorsed by Makabayan lawmakers – claimed that Marcos betrayed public trust for adopting the baselined-balanced-managed parametric formula that allegedly led to kickbacks in public infrastructure.

The House justice committee declared the two complaints insufficient in substance last Feb. 4.

No new case

In an earlier statement, Castro said Marcos was pleased with the dismissal of the complaints and called on the administration’s critics to move forward from the issue.

Luistro also said the House plenary’s voting to uphold the committee report junking the impeachment complaints against Marcos means the Chief Executive cannot be subjected to another suit within a year.

With 284 affirmative votes, Luistro said the House had sent a clear signal that her panel’s action was correct and that impeachment, as lawmakers stressed, must remain a constitutional safeguard, not a tool for political theater.

“What happened earlier is that, it is not only one-third, 284. I, myself, was also surprised with the 284 votes. That is overwhelming and it only shows, humbly speaking, we made the right judgment – by justice members,” Luistro said.

She told journalists the one-year prohibition is reckoned from the time Speaker Faustino Dy III referred the two complaints to her committee last Jan. 26.

“This impeachment complaint was initiated last Jan. 26, following the Supreme Court ruling in Francisco vs House. It is the referral to the justice committee which triggers the running of the one-year prohibition period,” she explained.

Asked whether future complainants can still use the same grounds for any impeachment move against Marcos, like the turnover of Duterte to the ICC, budget insertions or ghost projects, she replied in the affirmative.

“I am inclined to believe that it is a yes, because no such thing as res judicata (barred by prior judgment) had yet set in. The issue on sufficiency in substance has not been discussed in full length,” she said.

Marcos knew about kickbacks – Tinio

Meanwhile, Alliance of Concerned Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio on Tuesday alleged that he had seen text messages involving former Palace official Adrian Bersamin proving that Marcos knew and facilitated kickbacks through insertions in the budget.

The records, Tinio said, included a March 24, 2025 message reporting receipt of an P8-billion delivery from former public works under secretary Roberto Bernardo, which Marcos acknowledged.

Tinio said Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste also has the text messages. Both Tinio and Leviste, however, would not make public the screenshots of the supposed exchange of messages.

Castro dismissed Tinio’s claims as mere intrigue.

“That intrigue from peo ple who wish to oust him is not new. The allegations against him are not true,” she said. — Delon Porcalla, Jose Rodel Clapano