MANILA — A decisive vote by the House of Representatives has effectively closed the door on impeachment attempts against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., prompting Malacañang to pivot back to its legislative and governance priorities.
Speaking to reporters in an ambush interview on Friday, Marcos welcomed the dismissal of the complaints, saying it would allow the administration to refocus on its work.
He said he respected how the House of Representatives handled the issue and expressed relief that the matter had been resolved.
“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,” Marcos 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 also downplayed the impeachment efforts, describing them as politically motivated and lacking legal basis.
“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.
Earlier this week, the House justice committee dismissed two impeachment complaints against the President for being insufficient in substance. Following the decision, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said Malacañang appreciated lawmakers’ conclusion that the complaints lacked merit.
The first complaint, filed by lawyer Andre de Jesus, was dismissed by a 42-1 vote with three abstentions. A second complaint filed by the Makabayan coalition was rejected after a motion to declare it sufficient in substance failed in a 7-39 vote, with no abstentions.
The House justice committee is scheduled to submit its report on the complaints to the plenary on February 9. Lawmakers will then vote on whether to adopt the report, with at least one-third of all House members required to overturn it./PN
