Luistro: SC’s impeachment ruling covers different mode from complaint vs. Marcos

The Supreme Court ruling that upheld the declaration of the 2025 impeachment case against Vice President Duterte illegal for violating the one-year ban only concerns the “express” mode for impeachment, House leaders said Monday.

Reiterating the point she made on Sunday, House justice panel chairperson Gerville Luistro of Batangas said this is why the ruling will not carry weight in the ongoing impeachment proceedings against President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr.

“The impeachment complaint then [as ruled upon by the Supreme Court] was under the second mode, or the mode which requires a one-third vote of all members of the House of Representatives [who serve as complainants]. In this case [against the President], the two complaints [against President Marcos Jr.] were filed by ordinary citizens and endorsed by members of Congress and then referred within the proper period to the House Committee on Justice,” House justice panel vice chairperson Belle Zamora of San Juan said.

“I agree, it has no effect because the pending impeachment complaints were filed under the first mode by private citizens and endorsed by House members,” Luistro said.

 Article 11, Section 3 of the Constitution states that an impeachment complaint can be initiated through three modes:

a verified complaint for impeachment may be filed by any member of the House of Representatives; by any citizen upon a resolution of endorsement by any member thereof, which shall be included in the Order of Business within 10 session days, and referred to the proper Committee within three session days thereafter; or in case the verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the House, the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment, and trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed.

Likewise, the Constitution states that no impeachment proceedings can initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.

House Justice panel vice chairperson Keith Flores of Bukidnon then said that the impeachment complaints lodged against Marcos clearly do not involve the one-third “express” mode since it was referred to the House justice panel.

 “Even with the new definition of the Supreme Court on what is necessary, the current complaints that we are talking about [here concerning the President] are all within the periods given by the Supreme Court, so there's nothing left to discuss this yet,” he said.

The impeachment complained ruled illegal by the High Court is the fourth impeachment complaint dated February 5, 2025 filed by over 200 members of the House alleging that the Vice President committed culpable violation of the constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, and other high crimes due to the following acts:

• conspiracy to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. First Lady Liza Marcos, and Speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez;
• malversation of P612.5 Million in confidential funds with questionable liquidation documents;
• bribery and corruption in the DepEd during Duterte’s tenure by handing out cash to former DepEd Undersecretary Gloria Jumamil-Mercado (Procurement Head), Bids and Awards Committee Member Resty Osias, DepEd Chief Accountant Rhunna Catalan and Special Disbursing Officer Edward Fajarda;
• unexplained wealth and failure to disclose assets in the Vice President’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth where her wealth increased by four times from 2007 from 2017;
• involvement in extrajudicial killings in Davao City;
• destabilization, insurrection, and public disorder efforts, which include: boycotting the State of the Nation Address (SONA) while declaring herself "designated survivor," leading rallies calling for Marcos' resignation, obstructing congressional investigations by ordering subordinates not to comply with subpoenas, threatening bodily harm against the First Couple and Romualdez, among others; and
• the totality of the Vice President’s conduct as the second highest official of the land.

 After this abovementioned fourth complaint was approved by more than one-third of House members of the House of Representatives as provided under the Charter, the House plenary decided to archive the first three impeachment complaints filed against the Vice President filed within November to December 2024.

 The Supreme Court, however, declared such archiving as tantamount to initiation of another impeachment complaint which is prohibited under the Constitution. — BM, GMA Integrated News