Makabayan admits slim chance junking of impeach raps vs Marcos will be reversed

The Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives admitted Thursday that there is a "slim chance" that the House committee on justice's determination of insufficiency in substance of the two impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr will be reversed in plenary.

The Makabayan Bloc, composed of ACT Teachers Party-list Rep Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Party-list Rep Sarah Elago, and Kabataan Party-list Rep Renee Co, had endorsed the second impeachment complaint filed by Bayan and allied groups against the President.

House justice committee chairperson Rep Gerville Luistro said Wednesday the committee will submit its report to the plenary on Monday, February 9.

Members of the House of Representatives will vote on the committee report. A vote of at least 1/3 of all members of the House is enough to reverse the report.

"Tutuloy pa sa plenaryo so may boto pa roon. Eventhough there's a slim chance, hindi pa rin tapos. Kung makakuha ng one-third vote, pwede mabaligtad pa rin 'yung committee report," Tinio said in an online interview Thursday.

(It will be brought to the plenary so there will be voting there. Eventhough there's a slim chance, the fight isn't over yet. If we get one-third vote, the committee report can be reversed.)

"Mahirap nang mag-expect na mababago sa plenaryo. Gayunpaman, hindi pa tapos ito hanggang umabot tayo sa pinakadulo. So patuloy pa rin tayong magpapaliwanag sa publiko at sa mga miyembro ng House of Representatives kung bakit ang totoo naman talaga ay may alam ang Pangulo sa naganap na flood control corruption," Tinio added.

(It is hard expect that it will be reversed but it is not over until we reach the very end. So we will continue explaining to the public and the members of the House of Representatives why we think the President knows the flood control corruption.)

"Inaasahan natin na sa harap din ng plenary, magiging uphill battle talaga 'yan. Magiging mahirap, hindi magiging madali," Elago said.

(We expect that it will be an uphill battle in the plenary. It will be hard, it will not be easy.)

But the Makabayan bloc said exacting accountability from the President and others involved in the flood control anomaly will not stop.

"Sa loob at sa labas ng Kongreso ay dadalhin pa rin natin 'yung paniningil sa pangunahing responsibilidad ni Marcos. At isang pagkakataon ay sa February 25. So anibersaryo ito, of course, ng pagpapatalsik sa Marcos dictatorship at naaangkop na panahon dahil habang di pa nga sarado at hindi pa nare-recover 'yung ill-gotten wealth mula sa pamilyang Marcos na ninakaw noong panahon ng Marcos dictatorship ay ngayon, may bagong corruption scandal na napakalaki, na 'yung anak naman ang pangunahing responsable, si Bongbong Marcos Jr.," Tinio stated.

(We will demand the responsibility of Marcos both inside and outside the Congress. One of those occasion is on February 25, the anniversary of the ouster of the Marcos dictatorship because while the ill-gotten wealth of his family is yet to be recovered, here is a new corruption scandal which now involves his son, Bongbong Marcos.)

"Umaasa tayo sa taumbayan na mas magiging malakas 'yung panawagan nila na magkaroon ng pagdinig. Bukod dyan, yung hinahanap kasi na big fish ng ating mga kababayan, mahirap 'yan mahanap kung hindi mabibigyan ng pagkakataon na maimbestigahan mismo ang Malacañang," Elago added.

(We are hoping the people's call to have a hearing would be louder. Aside from that, the big fish the people are looking for will be hard to find if there will be no opportunity to investigate those in Malacanang.)

When asked if they intend to bring the issue before the Supreme Court, Elago replied, "Sa totoo lang, pinag-aaralan pa lang kasi since nagkaroon nga ng desisyon tungkol dun sa dating verified impeachment complaint kay VP Sara Duterte, ngayon kailangan talaga pag-aaralan how do we go about this. Kung paano natin mapapalakas pa rin 'yung sistema ng checks and balances. At the same time, hindi naman magiging parang over-legalized o sobra-sobrang napakataas ng pamantayan para mag-file impeachment complaint."

(We are still studying because with the decision on the verified impeachment complaint againt VP Sara Duterte, there is a need to really study how do we go about this. How do we strengthen the system of checks and balances and at the same time it will not be over-legalized or impose an overly high standard in filing an impeachment complaint.)

Tinio believes the way the Justice committee handled the impeachment proceeding against President Marcos will have an effect in the impeachment proceeding against Vice President Duterte.

"Kaya kung talagang itutuloy na ang final dismissal ng impeachment complaint naman kay Marcos, kailangang credible ito. Unfortunate 'yung nangyari sa hearing kahapon. Mas usapin talaga 'yon ng paggalaw ng mayorya para protektahan si Pangulong Marcos Jr. from impeachment. Premature ang pag-dismiss dahil malinaw naman na sufficient in substance 'yung impeachment complaint na in-endorse namin," he said.

(If the impeachment complaint against Marcos will be dismissed, it should be credible. What happened in the hearing was unfortunate. It was really an issue of the majority protecting President Marcos from impeachment. The dismissal was premature because it is clear that the impeachment complaint we endorsed is sufficient in substance.)

"Ngayon, ang problema diyan para sa Malacañang ay di maiwasang ihambing ng publiko 'yung naging handling sa complaint laban sa Pangulo at 'yung magiging handling sa Bise Presidente. Ngayon, kung magiging masyadong obvious na prematurely pinatay itong laban sa Pangulo samantalang parang pinapaboran itong sa Bise Presidente, in other words, kung ang tingin ng publiko, masyadong partisan 'yung handling, ay may epekto sa kredibilidad ng impeachment as a whole, at saka ng specific impeachment proceeding laban sa Vice President," he added.

(The problem of Malacañang now is the public will compare how the complaint against the President was handled with that of the Vice President. If it will be obvious that the complaint against the President was prematurely dismissed while they are in favor of impeaching the Vice President, it will have an effect in the credibility of impeachment process as a whole.)

On the other hand, Tinio is confident that the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte will reach the Senate impeachment court.

"Medyo confident tayo na lulusot or papasa sa Committee on Justice. Makakakuha ng sapat na bilang ng suporta ang impeachment laban kay Vice President Sara Duterte. In other words, makikita natin na 'yung mayorya ay susuporta sa impeachment complaint. Bakit natin nasabi 'yon? Dahil hindi naman malaki ang naging pagbabago sa sitwasyon ng majority kumpara sa previous Congress. Nananatili pa rin na supporters ng Malacanang at ng Pangulo ang mayorya and therefore susuportahan pa rin ang impeachment," Tinio explained.

(We are confident that it will pass the Committee on Justice. It will get enough number to support the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte. In other words, we will see that majority will support the impeachment complaint. Why did I say that? Because the present majority is similar to the majority in the previous Congress. Members of the majority bloc are still supporters of Malacanang and the President and therefore they will support the impeachment.) —AOL, GMA Integrated News