284 House solons junk Marcos impeach raps
President Marcos officially dodged the first attempt to impeach him after 284 members of the House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to adopt the justice committee report declaring the two complaints against him as insufficient in substance.
Eight other lawmakers voted against the move, while four abstained. The results of the voting meant that the impeachment complaints filed by lawyer Andre de Jesus and the progressive Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) coalition are deemed officially dead in the lower chamber, which is dominated by the President’s allies. Minority lawmakers, however, had argued that the Bayan complaint, at the very least, should have survived the scrutiny of the justice committee headed by Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro.
Malacañang, sought for comment, welcomed the development, saying the President “is pleased that 284 members of the House believe in the truth and decided to dismiss the impeachment complaints against him.”
“At present, the President’s focus is to move forward and continue working. He is concentrating on implementing economic programs that will improve the lives of every Filipino family,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said in a message to reporters.
‘Political theater’
In sponsoring Committee Report No. 11 on the floor, Luistro urged her colleagues to dismiss the complaints and “not indulge [the complainants] for the sake of political theater.”
She upheld the arguments during the committee deliberations that both complaints did not pass the determination of sufficiency in substance test after failing to meet the standard of recital of ultimate facts supported by personal knowledge and authentic records, “not hearsay and speculation.”
“In this Hall, the interest of the Filipino people must always come first. To do otherwise is to degrade impeachment from a constitutional safeguard into a weapon of harassment,” Luistro said.
As for the De Jesus complaint endorsed by Pusong Pinoy Rep. Jett Nisay, Luistro said the panel found no solid factual foundation to support its grounds for impeachment, including claims related to foreign policy decisions, alleged drug use, budget veto issues, graft and corruption, and the creation of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure.
Luistro said the committee likewise declared the Bayan complaint endorsed by the Makabayan bloc insufficient in substance, especially with regards to the so-called “BBM parametric formula” that defined the allocable budget in the Department of Public Works and Highways, arguing that “imperfect policy direction is not an impeachable offense.”
Backed by majority
The biggest political blocs in the House—LAKAS-CMD, National Unity Party, Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, Nationalist People’s Coalition and the Party-List Coalition Foundation, Inc. (PCFI)—all backed the committee report and urged one another to refocus on their legislative mandate, especially amid the turmoil hounding the administration.
“With the country facing many challenges at this time, the Filipino people expect this Congress to remain focused on its work, passing laws, addressing economic concerns, and responding to the needs of our constituents,” said Manila Rep. Rolando Valeriano.
“The PCFI believes that this is a time for healing and unity, not for the deepening of the political divide,” echoed FPJ Bayanihan Rep. Brian Poe. “Our country is currently at a critical economic juncture. The demand of the times is to shift our full attention to the pressing needs of the Filipino people.”
Premature dismissal
This stood in stark contrast to the manifestations of the Makabayan bloc composed of ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Rep. Sarah Elago and Kabataan Rep. Renee Co, along with opposition Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima and Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, who all argued it was premature for the House majority to dismiss the valid allegations in the Bayan complaint.
Tinio said that had the hearings moved forward, they would have brought out proof that Mr. Marcos indeed knew about the kickback scheme in government projects, citing records of communications between him and Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Undersecretary Adrian Carlos Bersamin from December 2024 to July 2025.
These communications, Tinio added, which were held by Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste and seen by other lawmakers, including Erice, contained “strong evidence that the President knew about the corruption and directly participated in and received kickbacks.”
Several lawmakers and former officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways are facing charges over allegations they connived to get kickbacks from anomalous government infrastructure projects. —WITH A REPORT FROM DEXTER CABALZA
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