JV Ejercito: Impeachment trials vs Marcos, Duterte will paint ‘instability’

Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito on Friday warned about the far-reaching implications of the country’s top two leaders possibly facing separate impeachment trials. 

According to Ejercito, the Congress pursuing impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., and possibly another one against Vice President Sara Duterte, could “paint a bad picture” of the Philippines in the global landscape.

“Whether we are in favor of the impeachment or not [of] President or Vice President, it’s our constitutional duty to hear the impeachment. Nasa Constitution ‘yan (it’s in the Constitution),” he said in a Zoom interview with Senate reporters. 

“Kaya lang, I’m just airing out my frustration of the implications that this would bring, both, kung matutuloy nga ‘yung impeachment ng dalawa, then that would really paint a bad picture of us internationally. That will paint political instability. Meron na nga tayong flood control scandal, tapos meron pang mga impeachment, so nothing positive to look forward to,” he added. 

(However, I'm just airing out my frustration of the implications that this would bring, if the impeachment efforts against the two push through, then that would really paint a bad picture of us internationally. That will paint political instability. We are already facing a flood control scandal, then there are looming impeachments, so there’s nothing positive to look forward to.) 

The first impeachment complaint was filed against Marcos on Monday by Atty. Andre de Jesus, which was endorsed by Pusong Pinoy Party-list Representative Jett Nisay.

On Thursday, there were attempts to file a second and third impeachment complaints against the President, but these were not accepted by the Office of the Secretary General as House Secretary General Cheloy Garafil is currently overseas.  

A new impeachment complaint, on the other hand, is also looming against Duterte in February, in time for the end of the constitutionally mandated one-year ban on such complaints. 

The Vice President was impeached by the House of Representatives on February 5, 2025, with over 200 lawmakers endorsing the complaint. In August last year, the Senate voted to transfer to the archives the articles of impeachment against her, following the Supreme Court decision declaring her impeachment unconstitutional.

For Ejercito, the Philippine government should also showcase something good to the world, amid the current issues the country is facing.

“Okay lang ‘yun, accountability, ‘yung mga salarin at may mga kasalanan kailangan talaga nating panagutin, i-show cause order. Pero kailangan may i-showcase din tayo. We have to show the world that we are still doing something positive for the country,” he said. 

(Accountability is okay. We really need to hold the perpetrators and those who have committed crimes accountable. We can issue show cause orders against them. But we also need to showcase something. We have to show the world that we are still doing something positive for the country.) 

Senator Risa Hontiveros previously recognized the possibility of the Senate holding two separate trials against the country’s top two officials, should the complaints against them prosper in the House of Representatives and be transmitted to the upper chamber. —AOL, GMA Integrated News