(UPDATE) FORMER lawmaker Neri Colmenares on Thursday sought a reversal of the House Committee on Justice’s decision to dismiss the impeachment complaint that he and other people filed against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“We ask that at least 1/3 of the members should give the people the opportunity to inquire how their public funds were spent, and vote for the reversal of the committee decision,” Colmenares, Bayan Muna chairman and a former impeachment prosecutor, said in a statement on Thursday.
On Wednesday, 39 lawmakers of the committee found the complaint, which was endorsed by the three-member Makabayan bloc, insufficient in substance.
The committee will still meet to vote on its report, which will be sent to the plenary.
Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro, chairman of the committee, said in a press conference on Wednesday that the committee report can still be reversed by at least one-third of all the members of the House of Representatives.
San Juan Rep. Ysabel Zamora, who is a vice chairman of the committee, said the proceedings were not railroaded.
“We went through each of the charges in both of the complaints,” he said.
As to the impeachment complaint filed against Marcos on Jan. 19 by lawyer Andre de Jesus and endorsed by House Deputy Minority Leader and Pusong Pinoy Rep. Jernie Jett Nisay, 42 lawmakers voted to dismiss it, one was against and three — the Makabayan bloc — abstained.
Why the rush?
Meanwhile, the August Twenty One Movement (ATOM) questioned the decision of the House of Representatives to immediately kill the impeachment complaints against the president.
In a statement, ATOM said that it was a disappointing decision.
“It has not even reached a stage where potential evidence that could substantiate allegations of Mr. Marcos’ shenanigans and corruption could even be scrutinized, let alone proven. There was not enough legroom provided for Mr. Marcos Jr. to undergo scrutiny for his handling of the most corrupt budget in history [in 2025], where budget insertions and unprogrammed appropriations have become rampant,” the opposition-led group said.
“This is no less than another unraveling of the Marcos Jr. administration’s supposed anti-corruption crusade. There can be no genuine anti-corruption drive under this administration if he, his relatives and his allies are exempted from accountability inside our supposed democratic institutions. A perpetuation of the systemic injustice and impunity that People Power fought against during his father’s dictatorship in 1986, which has since been revived by Rodrigo Duterte during his corrupt rule,” it added.
ATOM said the Committee on Justice of the House was “too defensive” of the president.
They cited a previous impeachment case against the president’s late father in 1985, which was also dismissed by the same committee at the time.
“Allowing the process to proceed would have let the available evidence speak for itself. And if it proves otherwise and finds Marcos Jr. innocent, then so be it. At least the process was allowed to breathe,” the group said.