Philippine activists decry failed bid to impeach Marcos - ‘not verdict of innocence’
Public attention is now turning to two separate impeachment complaints filed against Vice-President Sara Duterte
The complaints were linked to an ongoing corruption controversy over phantom flood control projects, with Marcos accused of swindling taxpayers of billions of pesos.
On Wednesday, the president hailed the dismissal of the cases by a congressional committee as a victory, urging the public: “Let’s move forward.”
The first complaint by lawyer Andre de Jesus, who once publicly defended Liza Araneta Marcos, the president’s wife, over an alleged slur, was dismissed as “insufficient in substance” by 42 out of the 46 committee members. The second complaint filed by members of the Makabayan party list groups was also thrown out by 39 of the committee members.
Members of civil society groups and organisations said the outcome of the six-hour-long hearing by the House Committee on Justice was disappointing but expected.
“The House’s dismissal of the impeachment complaints against Marcos Jnr is not a verdict of innocence,” Val Villanueva, a financial columnist for Rappler news site and former political strategist, told This Week in Asia on Thursday.