Colmenares seeks plenary reversal of Marcos impeachment ruling

A reversal of the House Committee on Justice’s decision to junk the two impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is being sought by lawyer Neri Colmenares.

Colmenares said they are calling on at least one-third of the members of the House of Representatives to give the public an opportunity to inquire into how public funds were spent and to vote for the reversal of the committee’s ruling.

On Wednesday, 39 lawmakers voted to declare the impeachment complaint endorsed by the Makabayan bloc insufficient in substance.

The House justice committee is set to meet next week to vote on its report, which will then be transmitted to the plenary.

Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro, a lawyer and chairperson of the committee, said Wednesday that the committee report may still be overturned if at least one-third of all House members vote against it.

Meanwhile, Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Louise Co said the impeachment process is not the sole mechanism for accountability.

“It is one of the many. For now, pinag-aaralan natin with the complainants kung ano ‘yung next steps natin,” Co said.

She added that they are also considering taking the issue to the streets, saying President Marcos should be held accountable by the people through public pressure.

“So we saw it the lawmakers need to vote based on their conscience, principel and even on policy,” she said.

Co said they are prepared to file another impeachment complaint in 2027, arguing that the issues raised in their complaint were not resolved by the committee.

“Which is that we see that PBBM can be charged of betrayal of public trust on 3 accounts,” Co said.