Panel members: 1st Marcos impeach rap ‘hearsay’
Several members of the House committee on justice on Tuesday cited what they considered to be defects in the first impeachment complaint against President Marcos, which seeks his removal from office over allegations of drug use and corruption.
They noted that the accusations being leveled against the President relied heavily on media reports and “hearsay,” making the document “insufficient in substance” upon early evaluation.
During the second hearing on the matter, the committee, led by Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, was almost unanimous in its criticism of the complaint filed by lawyer Andre de Jesus for lack of factual allegations and competent evidence, thus failing to meet the constitutional standard for impeachment.
The members’ manifestations, however, didn’t count yet as their official vote on whether De Jesus’ complaint and the other filed by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan’s (Bayan) coalition merit further deliberations for being sufficient in substance, or should already be dismissed.
Both complaints were deemed sufficient in form in the first committee hearing on Monday. The committee will be voting with regards to the substance today.
The committee will be voting separately on the De Jesus and the Bayan complaints.
Luistro explained that if “one complaint is declared insufficient in substance and the other complaint is declared sufficient in substance, we will be proceeding to the issuance of notice to require an answer from the respondent, meaning the impeachment would proceed.”
Based on hearsay
The De Jesus complaint, filed on Jan. 19 and endorsed by Pusong Pinoy Rep. Jett Nisay, alleged that Mr. Marcos was guilty of betrayal of public trust for being a drug addict, making him unfit to serve as President.
However, Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima and Surigao del Norte Rep. Bernadette Barbers noted that the allegation relied heavily on a November 2025 speech by Sen. Imee Marcos accusing her brother, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and their children of chronic drug use.
Beyond Imee’s allegations, “there is no evidence or authenticated records submitted by the complainant that will support his allegation,” Barbers said.
“Such allegation of illegal drug use by respondent, which was reportedly stated by another person and not the one who filed the complaint, is mere hearsay and lacked probative value,” she added.
De Lima likewise stressed that “unfitness per se is not a ground for impeachment… And even when considered as constituting basis for betrayal of public trust, the statements in this ground do not sufficiently establish allegations on how specific presidential acts were impaired by (Mr. Marcos’) addiction, assuming the addiction to be true,” she said.
The opposition lawmaker also dismissed De Jesus’ argument that the President’s refusal to take a drug test was proof of his addiction, noting that it “is a conclusion and not a factual allegation… as well as the argument that he was ‘silent’ on his drug addiction and therefore betrayed public trust.”
The complaint further relied on newspaper reports as evidence, which Baguio Rep. Mauricio Domogan argued “was not sufficient” based on the Supreme Court ruling in Estrada v. Desierto (G.R. No. 146710-15), which held that newspaper reports “cannot prove the truth of their contents and are generally considered hearsay.”
FPJ Bayanihan Rep. Brian Poe noted as well that while the complainants failed to prove record of drug abuse, “what we know for a fact and what is actually on the record is that in November 2021, (Mr. Marcos) had a negative drug test at St. Luke’s (Medical Center).”
Poe also noted that in a Senate hearing in May 2024, a drug analyst confirmed that Mr. Marcos tested negative, specifically for cocaine.
No personal knowledge
The lawmakers were likewise critical of the argument that Mr. Marcos must be removed from office for allowing the “kidnapping and surrender” of former President Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court in March 2025 to face trial for alleged crimes against humanity over his war on drugs.
Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon argued that De Jesus “lacked personal knowledge and authentic documents” to support his allegations, noting that five of the attached pieces of evidence in his complaint were news articles, while three were supposed congressional documents on hearings of the Duterte arrest, which were not certified true copies.
Manila Rep. Joel Chua likewise argued that for the charge of kidnapping to prosper, the “offender must be a private individual.”
This was echoed by Galing sa Puso Rep. Jan Padiernos, who said that there must be an “overt act attributable to the President” in relation to Duterte’s arrest.
Before Tuesday’s deliberations started, Luistro already reminded the 39-member committee to apply a strict constitutional standard in determining whether the allegations rose to the level of an impeachable offense.
She said the panel must determine “whether the complaints allege ultimate facts, not mere conclusions, whether they show a personal culpable act or omission by the impeachable official, and whether those acts as pleaded amount to culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust, as the Constitution strictly enumerates.”
Palace: No preparations yet
In Tuesday’s hearing, the panel likewise voted 24-21 to reject a bid to exclude the authenticity of documents attached to the two impeachment complaints against the President.
This means the panel will have to consider the authenticity of documents as it determines the sufficiency in substance of the complaints instead of simply holding these to the standard of “recital of facts” as spelled out in the House rules of impeachment.
President Marcos’ legal team for the impeachment complaint has yet to begin preparations as it awaits the formal House process, according to Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro. —WITH REPORTS FROM GABRIEL PABICO LALU AND ZACARIAN SARAO
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