Two impeach raps vs. Marcos sufficient in form —House panel

The House committee of justice on Monday determined that the two impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. were sufficient in form.

The vote for sufficiency in form for the first complaint tallied 46 yes votes, one no vote, and one abstention.

On the other hand, the second complaint logged 35 yes votes, nine no votes, and one abstention.

These two complaints are:

• filed by lawyer Andre De Jesus which accuses the President of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution, among others, for ordering and enabling the kidnapping and surrender of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC), being a drug addict whose condition impairs his judgment and leadership, failing to veto unprogrammed appropriations and other unconstitutional provisions of the national budget for 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026, among others and
• The Makabayan complaint alleged that the President committed betrayal of public trust over the adoption of the Baselined-Balanced-Managed (BBM) Parametric Formula in allocating infrastructure projects that allegedly led to "ghost," substandard, and overpriced flood management projects, among others. 

A complaint sufficient in form must be based on personal knowledge and/or authentic documents.

“The verification must be correctly written in such a way that it is based on personal knowledge and authentic records. And of course, the same has to be under oath as well, with the signature of the notary public. The same has to be accompanied by a resolution of endorsement, and we have seen that it was signed by Pusong Pinoy party-list Rep. Jett Nisay for the de Jesus complaint, and by Representatives Antonio Tinio (of ACT Teachers party-list), Sarah Elago (of Gabriela party-list) and Renee Co of Kabataan party-list  for the Liza Maza et al complaint,” House justice panel chairperson Gerville Luistro of Batangas said.

“Both complaints were declared sufficient in form. For tomorrow, we will be moving to the determination of sufficiency in substance. And this means that the recital of facts must constitute the offense determinative of the jurisdiction of the Committee on Justice,” Luistro added.

Luistro, however, said that the road forward is just getting started for the complainants.

“The determination of form and substance are preliminary procedure. It should not go beyond what is written in the impeachment complaint. When it comes to sufficiency in substance, the recital of facts as contained in the complaint should constitute the offense, which is the ground for impeachment,” Luistro said.

Elago, for her part, said their complaint is certainly sufficient in form, among other higher bars of requirements, because accountability among public officials is mandatory.

“Wala man lang ipinatawag at humarap sa mga imbestigasyon sa kanila. May resignations pero wala man lang thorough investigation. Walang kahit anong imbestigasyon tungkol sa kinalaman mismo ng Palasyo at ng Pangulo mismo bilang nasa tuktok ng kapangyarihan,” Elago said.

(Nobody from the President’s circle faced investigation. There were resignations, but without thorough probes. There is not a single probe on the Palace’s and the President’s involvement in the mess when they are occupying the highest seat of power.)

“Hindi ito puwedeng palusutin,” Elago added.

(We cannot let them get away with this.)

Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro, in a separate briefing, said Malacañang respects the developments in the impeachment proceedings against the President.

''That's the process, we have to respect that,'' Castro said.

Asked if Malacañang is confident that the complaints would not be sufficient in substance, Castro maintained that the President knows he didn't commit any impeachable offense.

''Even before sinabi na po ng Pangulo na alam niya na wala siyang ginawang mali, wala siyang ginawang paglabag sa batas, at wala siyang ginawang impeachable offense. Kaya kumpiyansa siya sa sarili niya,'' Castro said.

(Even before, the President knows that he didn't do anything wrong, he didn't violate the law, and he didn't commit an impeachable offense. He is confident with himself.) —AOL, GMA Integrated News