đź“·: Ronald and Marie Cardema | FB
The Makabayan bloc has condemned Duterte Youth’s impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., calling it a diversionary tactic to deflect attention from the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Lawmakers France Castro, Arlene Brosas, and Raoul Manuel argue that the complaint is a publicity stunt designed to protect the Duterte family from accountability, particularly regarding human rights abuses during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.
The bloc highlights how the complaint, which alleges an illegal arrest, deliberately ignores a 2021 Supreme Court ruling affirming the Philippines’ continuing obligation to cooperate with the ICC.
Makabayan lawmakers asserted that Duterte Youth is exploiting anti-Marcos sentiment to serve a pro-Duterte agenda, shifting focus away from substantial evidence of corruption and abuses against VP Sara Duterte.
They urge the public to remain vigilant, warning that this impeachment maneuver is a political distraction rather than a genuine effort to uphold justice.
The progressive solons stressed that both the Duterte and Marcos families must ultimately be held accountable for their respective actions.
The House of Representatives recently tossed out an impeachment complaint against Marcos Jr. after the Duterte Youth party-list failed to properly file the document, with the House secretary general unavailable to receive it.
The complaint accused Marcos Jr. of betraying public trust and violating the Constitution, citing his alleged role in allowing the International Criminal Court to arrest former president Duterte on March 11 and detain him in the Netherlands for trial on crimes against humanity.
But the Office of the House Secretary General said the filing was invalid because Secretary General Reginald Velasco wasn’t physically present to accept it.
“As of 5 p.m., the Office of Secretary-General of the House of Representatives has not yet accepted the verified impeachment complaint of Ronald Cardema and Marie Cardema, stating that it should be the Secretary General himself,” the Cardema couple said.
“Again, according to the Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings, Rule 2 Section 3, a verified complaint for impeachment by a member of the House or by any citizen upon a resolution of endorsement by any Member thereof shall be filed with the Office of the Secretary-General. It does not state that it should be the Head of Office himself,” they added.
However, Cardema’s camp insisted Velasco’s office had a “ministerial duty” to accept the impeachment complaint and argued that the rejection was a procedural dodge rather than a legal basis to block the case.
In a separate statement released Friday, May 9, La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega called the impeachment bid against Marcos Jr. as a “cheap and desperate publicity stunt.”
Ortega said the Duterte Youth’s complaint was a diversion tactic meant to undercut Marcos’ achievements and distract the public from the administration’s progress.
“I will personally protect the President from this baseless and malicious attack. The so-called impeachment complaint is a mere political gimmick, designed to distract the public from the real work of nation-building under the leadership of President Marcos,” Ortega said.
Ortega also pointed out that the impeachment complaints haven’t even been formalized, yet the Cardemas are already milking the issue for publicity—even without the complaint being officially filed or verified by the Office of the House Secretary General.
Just hours after the Duterte Youth party-list tried to file the impeachment complaint, House Speaker Martin Romualdez downplayed the move, saying there’s little Congress can do since it’s currently out of session.
Romualdez noted that session won’t resume until June 2 and the 19th Congress wraps up by June 13, leaving a narrow nine-day window to act—excluding June 12, a holiday. He added that staff from the Office of the Secretary General attended a seminar during the time the Cardemas camp filed the document, rendering them unavailable to receive any complaints for now.
Under Republic Act 9851, the Philippines can defer investigations into crimes against humanity if an international court—such as the International Criminal Court—is already handling the case.
A July 2021 Supreme Court ruling further compels the Philippine government to cooperate with ICC proceedings, as long as the alleged offenses occurred while the country was still a party to the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty.
Then-President Duterte announced the country’s withdrawal from the treaty on March 14, 2018. The pullout became official a year later, on March 14, 2019—meaning alleged crimes committed before that date still fall within the ICC’s jurisdiction. (TCSP)
