Marcos unfazed by impeachment bids, calls them political move

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday said he was not worried about the impeachment complaints against him even before they were junked, calling these efforts a “political move.”

In a chance interview in the City of Manila, Marcos said he was glad that the impeachment complaints against him were dismissed by the House Committee on Justice.

READ: Palace says Marcos pleased as House rejects impeachment bids

“I’m glad that the impeachment complaints against me have been finished and as the statement that we made earlier, we can get on with our work because these things are distractions from the things we were doing,” he told reporters.

“Although I wasn’t very worried because I saw the impeachment complaint and I knew that I would be alright in terms of the impeachment… there were no real grounds for the impeachment. It was a political move as usual,” he continued.

In the first impeachment complaint against Marcos, only one lawmaker — Pusong Pinoy party-list Rep. Jernie Jett Nisay — voted to declare it sufficient in substance, while 42 voted against the motion. Three members of the Makabayan bloc abstained.

The first complaint was filed by Atty. Andre de Jesus, who accused Marcos of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution, among other charges.

In the second complaint, meanwhile, only seven lawmakers voted to declare it sufficient in substance, while 39 voted against it, with no abstentions. 

The complaint, filed by the Makabayan bloc, alleged that Marcos committed betrayal of public trust over the adoption of the Baselined-Balanced-Managed Parametric Formula in allocating infrastructure projects. /das