Rowegie Abanto

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers a speech during the ceremonial signing of the Kapatid Angat Lahat Agri Program on March 6, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/PPA Pool/File



Article (news)

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. 


Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17700870799951770087078355.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers a speech during the ceremonial signing of the Kapatid Angat Lahat Agri Program on March 6, 2023. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/PPA Pool/File</em></span></span></span>MANILA (<strong>UPDATE</strong>) — The House Committee on Justice on Wednesday found that the two impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. were insufficient in substance.</div><p>The decision effectively dismisses the two complaints against Marcos but it could still be reversed by a third of the House of Representatives.</p><p>There are two impeachment complaints lodged against Marcos before the House, and the panel on Monday found that both were <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/2/house-begins-tackling-marcos-impeachment-complaints-1019">sufficient in form</a>.</p><p>But on Wednesday, the committee members found that both complaints were insufficient in substance.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/4/house-panel-decides-whether-marcos-impeach-complaints-have-substance-1013">rules</a> mandate the panel to determine whether or not an impeachment complaint against an official is sufficient in form and substance before it can be taken up to the plenary for a vote.</p><p>Marcos faces two impeachment cases: one filed by lawyer Andre de Jesus and another from progressive group leaders led by Liza Maza and House members from the Makabayan bloc.</p><p>Forty-two members of the House justice panel voted to support the motion that the De Jesus complaint was insufficient in substance, one voted against the motion, and three abstained.</p><p>Meanwhile, 39 members voted against the motion to declare the Maza complaint sufficient in substance and only seven voted to support the motion.</p><p>Batangas Second District Rep. Gerville Luistro, the panel chair, on Tuesday noted that an impeachment complaint has sufficiency in substance when it alleges &quot;ultimate facts, not mere conclusions.&quot;</p><p>The charter, she added, &quot;strictly enumerates&quot; betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, and other high crimes as impeachable offenses.</p><div> </div><div><strong>BASIS OF COMPLAINTS  </strong></div><div> </div><p>De Jesus&#x27; complaint stated the following alleged wrongdoing of Marcos, which the President&#x27;s office has denied or refused to believe to be impeachable offenses:</p><ul style="list-style-type:circle"><li>The surrender of former President Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court</li><li>Marcos&#x27; alleged &quot;drug addiction&quot;</li><li>Marcos&#x27; failure to veto unprogrammed appropriations</li><li>Marcos allegedly benefitted from alleged kickbacks from budget insertions and &quot;ghost&quot; flood control projects</li><li>Marcos&#x27; creation of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure to supposedly protect his allies.</li></ul><div> </div><p>The Maza complaint meanwhile alleged that the BBM (Baselined-Balanced-Managed) Parametric Formula for the allocation of infrastructure budget resulted in the alleged &quot;massive misallocation of funds&quot; and laid the basis for alleged kickbacks and “commitments” for favored officials.</p><p>It also accused the President of abusing discretionary power over unprogrammed appropriations and alleged that the President has &quot;direct personal involvement in budgetary insertions and kickback schemes.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;MARCOS DID NOT CREATE BBM FORMULA&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>During its third day of deliberations on Wednesday, several members of the House panel said they found the second case failed to show that the president committed an &quot;overt act&quot; to order the alleged schemes in the complaint. </p><p>But two congressmen from the House minority bloc disputed views that the second complaint is insufficient in substance.</p><p>&quot;In the first place, it was not the President who created the BBM parametric formula of the DPWH. Having an imperfect policy direction is not an impeachable offense,&quot; San Juan City Rep. Ysabel Zamora said.</p><p>Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez added that there was &quot;no recital of facts&quot; indicating that the President called public works officials to tell them to institute the formula.</p><p>Some lawmakers from the House majority bloc meanwhile asserted that unprogrammed appropriations have not been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, adding that past administrations also had unprogrammed funds. </p><p>But for Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima and Caloocan City Second District Rep. Edgar Erice, the second ground for impeachment passes the threshold for sufficiency in substance.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;HEARSAY&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>During Tuesday&#x27;s deliberations, some members of the House panel explained why they found the allegations in the first impeachment <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/3/house-panel-members-see-claims-in-one-impeachment-complaint-vs-marcos-insufficient-in-substance-1845">complaint filed by De Jesus to be insufficient in substance</a>.</p><p>They said the allegations in the complaint were &quot;legal conclusions&quot; instead of &quot;recital of facts&quot; and that some of the alleged acts did not constitute impeachable offenses.</p><p>Some lawmakers also tagged as &quot;hearsay&quot; the basis for the allegations in the complaint.</p><p>Maza earlier Wednesday admitted that filing an impeachment case against Marcos is an &quot;uphill battle,&quot; noting that the House is dominated by his allies.</p><p>After the panel found the complaints were sufficient in form on Monday, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said, &quot;That&#x27;s the process, we have to respect that.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>WATCH: </strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_5VO3OKHUdA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The House Committee on Justice on Wednesday found that the two impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. were insufficient in substance.</p>

The House Committee on Justice on Wednesday found that the two impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. were insufficient in substance.

House panel: Two Marcos impeachment complaints insufficient in substance

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House panel: Two Marcos impeachment complaints insufficient in substance

Rowegie Abanto,

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 04, 2026 03:07 PM PHT

|

Updated Feb 04, 2026 04:40 PM PHT

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House Committee on Justice

Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Impeachment

Impeachment Complaint

House of Representatives

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