PhilStarGlobal-Feb 5
Through votes from overwhelmingly administration allies, the impeachment complaints against President Marcos have been scrapped for “insufficiency in substance” by the House of Representatives’ committee on justice. The development has effectively thwarted further attempts to have the President impeached within a year. Forty-two administration lawmakers voted yesterday to throw out the first complaint filed by lawyer Andre de Jesus, with only its endorser Rep. Jernie Jett Nisay dissenting, and three others – all members of the Makabayan bloc – abstaining. In the second petition filed by former Gabriela congresswoman Liza Maza, 39 members of the justice committee voted against a motion to declare it sufficient in substance, outnumbering Reps. Antonio Tinio, Renee Co, Sarah Jane Elago, Chel Diokno, Leila de Lima, Edgar Erice and Nisay. There was no abstention. On Monday, the committee voted to declare the complaints sufficient in form. Committee chairperson Rep. Gerville Luisto (Batangas second district), who presided over the hearing, said the voting “concludes” and “suspends” further impeachment proceedings in the panel, and set for Feb. 9 at 10 a.m. its next meeting, mainly to deliberate on their committee report.
If the committee report gets junked after a voting, the impeachment case would be sent to the Senate for trial, with the senators to be designated as judges. At yesterday’s hearing, committee members took turns citing what they considered flaws in the complaints. Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, of Cagayan de Oro City’s second district, noted there was no recital of facts in both impeachment suits. Read more at:
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2026/02/05/2505813/house-panel-junks-2-impeach-raps-vs-marcos-jr
