Marcos on junking of impeachment raps: ‘Happy it’s done’

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. expressed relief Friday that the impeachment complaints filed against him were junked while he declined to comment on the impeachment raps against Vice President Sara Duterte.

In an ambush interview, Marcos said the dismissal of the complaints against him would allow the administration to focus fully on its work.

“Not really. I mean, House is doing their job. I’m glad that of course I’m glad that now the impeachment complaints against me are finished,” he said.

“And as (said) in the statement earlier, I’m happy it’s done because we can get on with our work because these things are distractions from the things we were doing," he added. 

Marcos noted that he was not concerned by the impeachment attempts, maintaining that they lacked legal basis and were politically driven.

“Although I wasn’t very worried because I saw the impeachment complaint and I knew that I would be alright in terms of the impeachment kasi wala naman, there were no real grounds for the impeachment. It was a political move. As usual,” he said.

Asked about the impeachment complaint filed against Vice President Duterte, Marcos said he had no reaction and left the matter to the House of Representatives.

“Now… I have no reaction. Hindi ko trabaho ’yan… trabaho ’yan ng House (That’s not my job—that’s the job of the House)," he said. 

“Pabayaan mo silang magtrabaho (Let them do their work) and I’m sure they will handle it properly so just let them do their jobs," he added.

For its part, Malacañang said the President welcomes the decision and respects the impeachment proceedings.

"Ginagalang ng Pangulo ang proseso. Pero kahit hindi pa nagsisimula ang hearing sa House Committee on Justice, alam ng Pangulo na wala siyang ginawang anumang impeachable offense," Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro told GTV's Balitanghali.

(The President respects the process. But even before the House Justice Committee hearings start, he knows he did not commit any impeachable offense.)

"Ito ay nakita at nadinig mula sa hearing na ang iba sa mambababatas ay kinakitaan na walang anumang basehan kung hindi gumawa ng conclusion laban sa Pangulo. Masaya tayo na nakikita nila ito," Castro said.

(We heard and saw from the hearing that some legislators did not see any basis to make a conclusion against the President. We are glad they saw that.)

On Wednesday, after the House justice committee junked the impeachment complaints against the President being insufficient in substance, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said Malacañang was grateful that lawmakers were able to see that the two complaints had no merit.

The vote for the dismissal of the first impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Andre de Jesus tallied 42 yes, one no, and three abstentions.

On the other hand, the second impeachment complaint filed by the Makabayan coalition, on the other hand, was junked after the motion declaring it sufficient in substance was defeated via a seven yes, 39 no, and zero abstentions.

On February 9, the House justice committee will submit its report on the impeachment complaints against Marcos to the plenary. 

Members of the House of Representatives will vote whether they agree with it or not. A vote of at least 1/3 of all members of the House is enough to reverse the report. — with a report from Sundy Locus/ AOL/ VDV, GMA Integrated News