PBBM: SC impeach ruling only about procedure, not merits

BENGALURU, India – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said the Supreme Court’s ruling on the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte only addressed how the case was handled by the House of Representatives and the Senate, not the merits of the complaint itself.

“Let me clarify. The merits of the case were not examined by the Supreme Court. This does not mean… this does not decide the merits of the case. It just talked about procedure. So the procedure was faulty, was lacking. So that’s the assessment of the Supreme Court. It has no bearing on the rightness or wrongness of the impeachment,” Marcos said during the Kapihan with the Media in Bengaluru, India on Friday.

“There is something important that is clear to people. Because they say, ah, the natural reaction is, you are not a lawyer. Won't you say that? The Supreme Court said, it's not possible, it's not true. It turns out that nothing was done wrong. That's not what the Supreme Court said. What the Supreme Court said, the handling of the House, your handling of the impeachment complaint, is not right. That's all,” he stressed.

Marcos reiterated that the Executive department has no role in the impeachment of the Vice President.

“The president has no role. I'm an impeachable officer. I cannot involve myself in any of this. So, it's really the Supreme Court, the Senate, and the House. So, that's where the decisions were made on the issues between the House, the Senate, and the Supreme Court,” he explained.

“The Supreme Court has decided, and like I've said, that's it,” he added.

Investigating corruption allegations

When asked about corruption allegations against the Vice President, Marcos said there are existing systems and procedures to address them.

“You know, we have already COA [Commission on Audit], we have already all of this. I'm sure the House and the Senate will start to conduct further investigations on this because it's really within their purview. So we have all of the mechanisms that are available to us in terms of checks and balances. All we have to do is to try and get some answers,” he said.

Marcos further emphasized that the High Court ruling was strictly about procedure.

“We have to make very very clear to everyone that the Supreme Court decision does not have any bearing on the rightness or wrongness of the merits of the impeachment case. They're not saying that there was no wrongdoing,” he said. “Neither are they saying that there was wrongdoing. All they're saying is that you did not handle it properly. That's it.”