The second impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has officially been filed and received, after Secretary General Cheloy Velicaria Garafil accepted it on Monday. Under House rules, once the Secretary General gets a complaint, it must be referred to the Speaker, who then has 10 session days to include it in the Order of Business and transmit it to the Committee on Justice.

The group behind the complaint is urging Speaker Faustino Dy III to include it alongside the first complaint filed by lawyer Andre de Jesus so both can be tackled together — or even consolidated — at the committee level.

Filed by progressive groups and endorsed by Makabayan coalition lawmakers, the complaint accuses Marcos of betrayal of public trust. It claims he institutionalized systemic corruption and patronage, abused discretionary powers over unprogrammed appropriations, and was personally involved in alleged kickback schemes tied to controversial budget insertions.

The complaint was initially submitted last Thursday, but staff from the Office of the Secretary General said they could not accept it at that time because Garafil was out of the country. ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio said Garafil finally received it on Monday and, under House rules, should immediately refer it to Speaker Dy.

Tinio expressed concern over the lack of a firm commitment to refer the complaint, warning that delays could be used to block the Makabayan complaint. He noted that the Speaker has 10 session days to include any referred complaint in the Order of Business, and that impeachment is considered “initiated” once the complaint is transmitted to the Committee on Justice.

Tinio stressed there is enough time to consolidate the Makabayan complaint with the first one filed by De Jesus. He said there’s no valid reason to dismiss a second complaint just because another has already been filed, especially when the new complaint raises broader and more serious allegations.

Bayan president Renato Reyes Jr. also raised the alarm, noting that if the second complaint isn’t referred promptly, the first complaint could move forward this Monday, triggering the constitutional one complaint per year rule. That would effectively block other complaints from being considered for the next 12 months.

Reyes warned that if the House moves only the first, widely seen as weaker complaint, while keeping the Makabayan-backed complaint in limbo, it would be clear the majority is cherry-picking cases it can control. He said such a maneuver would undermine the credibility of impeachment as a tool for genuine accountability, reducing it to a technical game rather than a serious inquiry into corruption and abuse of power.

Makabayan’s complaint specifically alleges that Marcos abused discretionary powers through what critics call the “BBM formula,” and was personally involved in budgetary insertions and kickback schemes tied to infrastructure spending.