Plenary revival of BBM’s impeachment bid pushed

A lawyer is seeking a reversal of the House Committee on Justice’s decision to junk the two impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Atty. Neri Colmenares on Thursday said they are asking that at least one-third of lawmakers vote to overturn the committee ruling and allow the process to proceed.

On Wednesday, 39 lawmakers found the complaints, endorsed by the Makabayan bloc, insufficient in substance. The committee will meet next week to vote on its report, which will then be sent to the plenary.

Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro, a lawyer and chairperson of the committee, said the report can still be reversed if at least one-third of all House members disapprove it.

Luistro said the complaints were junked after the panel found them insufficient in substance due to weak evidence and lack of connection, or nexus, between the alleged facts and the impeachable grounds. 

She said this conclusion stemmed from comments and manifestations made by members during three days of deliberations.

Missing link

“What I heard from them was this: First, there is no connection — what Congresswoman De Lima calls a ‘nexus’ — between the alleged facts and the impeachable ground,” Luistro said in Filipino and English.

She stressed that it is not enough that an official is accused of an offense, as the causal link between alleged facts and impeachable grounds must be established.

Luistro also pointed out that the allegations were not based on personal knowledge or authentic records, as required under House impeachment rules. 

Some attachments, she said, were merely news clippings, when evidence should be authentic or certified.

She added that allegations of graft and corruption cited a video of former lawmaker Zaldy Co, who is under probe over anomalous flood control projects. 

The video has not been authenticated, and for it to be admissible, the person concerned should appear and subscribe to an affidavit to support sufficiency in substance.