Impeachment race

By Artchil B. Fernandez

The simmering conflict between Team Agila and Team Tigre has expanded to the impeachment arena. There is an impeachment race between them. In the past weeks, impeachment complaints were filed in the House of Representatives against President Bongbong Marcos (BBM) and Vice President Sara Duterte.

Two impeachment complaints were lodged in the House against BBM. Lawyer Andre de Jesus filed the first-ever impeachment complaint against BBM, with Pusong Pinoy party-list Rep. Jernie Jett Nisay endorsing it. To support his complaint against BBM for culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and betrayal of public trust, De Jesus cited six grounds.

These were: allegedly ordering and enabling the kidnapping and surrender of former President Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court; allegedly being a drug addict, which impairs his judgment and leadership; alleged failure to veto unprogrammed appropriations and other unconstitutional provisions of the General Appropriations Bill for 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026; allegedly benefiting from kickbacks arising from budget insertions and ghost flood control projects; allegedly creating the Independent Commission for Infrastructure to shield corrupt allies; and allegedly violating the Constitution and betraying public trust for surrendering Duterte to the ICC.

Not to be outdone, the Makabayan bloc also submitted an impeachment complaint against BBM, endorsed by its members in the House. Their complaint focused on the “BBM Parametric Formula” — a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) policy that stands for “Baselined-Balanced-Managed.” Makabayan asserts that “the objective of this scheme was twofold and mutually reinforcing: Massive personal enrichment for the president and his inner circle, and the accumulation of an illicit ‘war chest’ for the 2025 National Elections.” The Makabayan bloc cited two other grounds: alleged abuse of discretionary powers in the allocation and use of unprogrammed appropriations, and alleged direct personal involvement in budgetary insertions and kickback schemes.

Acting on the two complaints, the House Committee on Justice declared that they were sufficient in form. The De Jesus complaint received 46 affirmative votes, one negative vote, and one abstention. The Makabayan complaint, on the other hand, got 35 affirmative votes, nine negative votes, and one abstention.

Two days after finding the complaints against BBM sufficient in form, the House Justice Committee voted again to determine if they were sufficient in substance. Voting 42 in favor, one against, and three abstentions, the committee found the De Jesus complaint insufficient in substance. The committee also declared the Makabayan complaint insufficient in substance, with 39 voting in favor and seven against. By declaring the complaints against BBM insufficient in substance, the Justice Committee, in effect, dismissed them. Only a plenary vote can reverse the committee’s decision, which is unlikely to happen.

The impeachment bid against BBM died at the committee level. This decision of the House Justice Committee triggers the one-year ban on the filing of an impeachment complaint against BBM. He is safe and insulated from any impeachment complaint.

Many suspect this is the reason behind the De Jesus complaint. The De Jesus complaint was filed to pre-empt an impeachment complaint by a pro-Duterte group. Supporters of the Dutertes, led by former Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor and Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, attempted to file a third impeachment complaint against BBM prior to the action taken by the House on the first two complaints. The House Office of the Secretary General (OSG), however, refused to accept their complaint.

While the House Justice Committee was deliberating on the impeachment complaints against BBM, impeachment complaints were also submitted against Vice President Sara Duterte. Two impeachment complaints so far have been filed against her.

The first complaint was lodged by the Makabayan bloc. The group accused her of the following: betrayal of public trust by gross abuse of discretionary powers over PHP 612.5 million in confidential funds from December 2022 until the third quarter of 2023; betrayal of public trust due to gross disregard of transparency and accountability, making a mockery of the audit process; and betrayal of public trust for dereliction of official duty due to “willful refusal to recognize congressional oversight during budget deliberations and its authority to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation.”

Tindig Pilipinas submitted the second complaint against the vice president. The group listed five articles of impeachment, accusing Sara Duterte of constitutional violations, graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes, including the misuse of billions in confidential and intelligence funds, abuse of power, and tolerance of extrajudicial killings.

While the impeachment complaint against BBM was a dud, that of Sara Duterte is expected to be volatile with lots of fireworks. A third impeachment move against her by Team Agila is anticipated. The House moved swiftly to dispose of the impeachment complaints against BBM so it can focus solely on the vice president’s impeachment.

The real national drama is the forthcoming impeachment of Sara Duterte. Its outcome is a turning point in the Duterte-Marcos feud. Should the Marcoses succeed, the war is nearly won. Should Sara Duterte survive it, her chances in the 2028 presidential race are strengthened. Grab your popcorn.

: betrayal of public trust due to Duterte’s alleged gross abuse of discretionary powers over PHP 612.5 million in confidential funds from December 2022 until the third quarter of 2023; betrayal of public trust due to Duterte’s alleged gross disregard of transparency and accountability, making a mockery of the audit process by 1) ordering subordinates to prepare implausible accomplishment reports supported by fabricated liquidation reports and falsified documents, and 2) to submit the same to the Commission on Audit to support the questionable use of confidential funds that is not in accordance with laws and regulations, causing great injury to the government and the taxpayers; and betrayal of public trust due to Duterte’s alleged dereliction of official duty, with her willful refusal to recognize congressional oversight during budget deliberations and its authority to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation.