The congressional committee investigating the two complaints against Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. suspended its hearing Tuesday without voting on the sufficiency of substance of the impeachment complaints.
The Committee on Justice of the House of Representatives said it will decide on Wednesday if there is enough reason to impeach Marcos based on the first complaint filed by Lawyer Andre de Jesus after hours of “exhaustive discussions.”
Committee chairperson Jinky Luistro agreed to requests from several members that the voting be held tomorrow when it concludes its discussions on the merits of the second complaint by activist groups.
The 47-member committee voted the first and second complaints were sufficient in form on Monday.
The next step is for the justice committee to decide whether both complaints are sufficient in substance on whether Marcos is liable for impeachable offenses.
It seems clear on the discussions however that the first complaint may face rough sailing in tomorrow’s vote as committee members insisted on the inclusion of annexes in their determination of sufficiency.
This unprecedented and additional requirement goes beyond the traditional listing of alleged offenses in the impeachment complaints.
First complaint endorser Rep. Jett Nisay also struggled against the barrage of questions from the predominantly pro-Marcos panel.
The second and more direct complaint endorsed by activist legislators however has a lone impeachable offense of betrayal of public trust.
The grievance accuses the president of institutionalizing corruption in public works through so-called unprogrammed appropriations in the national budget.
Unprogrammed appropriations are lump sums inserted in the national budget that are used in anomalous flood control projects of the Marcos administration.
Several whistleblowers have also alleged Marcos ordered such formula to receive billions of pesos in kickbacks.
Namesake of the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Sr. and seen as the one who will revive the Marcos name soiled by massive corruption scandals, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is not beyond allegations of fraud himself.
Activist alliance Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) meanwhile called for vigilance ahead of tomorrow’s vote, reminding lawmakers as well that their duty is to uphold truth and accountability.
BAYAN added that committee members should not shield the president from being made to account for his role in masterminding and benefiting from large-scale corruption.
The group said today’s hearing focused on nitpicking on notary issues, giving a glimpse of the kind of arguments they will raise in order to belittle the impeachment complaint filed by progressive groups.
“At the minimum, they should allow the impeachment to proceed by requiring Marcos to answer the corruption charges leveled against him. The maneuver to hastily dismiss the impeachment will further expose the collusion between the House and Malacañang,” BAYAN secretary general Raymond Palatino said.
Palatino added the Filipino people are seeking accountability for the anomalous “allocables,” the bloated budget insertions, the questionable unprogrammed appropriations, and the delivery of billions of pesos in kickbacks to Malacañang based on the testimony of Zaldy Co, a former House member and chair of the powerful House Committee on Appropriations. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
