By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter and Erika Mae P. Sinaking

THE House of Representatives Justice Committee on Monday adopted a report dismissing impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., sending the cases to the plenary for a vote on whether to accept or overturn the body’s findings.

Thirty-nine lawmakers voted to approve the committee report recommending the dismissal of the complaints for lack of substance, while four voted against it. The report has been referred to the House Rules Committee, which will set the schedule for plenary deliberations.

“Both the impeachment complaint and its accompanying resolution are subject to the approval or disapproval of the plenary,” Batangas Rep. Gerville R. Luistro, chairman of the Justice committee, said at a briefing after the vote.

The committee ruling does not end the impeachment bid outright. Under the Constitution, a complaint rejected at the committee level may still proceed if at least one-third of the House, or 106 congressmen, vote to overturn the dismissal.

Still, the odds of reversing the panel’s decision appear slim, with the chamber dominated by allies of the President.

The complaints accused Mr. Marcos of benefiting from irregular government contracts, including kickbacks tied to flawed infrastructure projects, and of institutionalizing corruption through a budget allocation formula for congressional districts.

Critics said the Justice committee acted prematurely by ruling on the merits of the allegations rather than limiting its review to whether the complaints met constitutional thresholds.

“This stage of the process is not a trial and not a determination of guilt,” House Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Party-list Rep. Edgar R. Erice said in a statement. “The only question is whether the complaint alleges facts which, if hypothetically admitted, could constitute an impeachable offense.”

Ms. Luistro said the panel dismissed the complaints to avoid consuming legislative time on accusations that fail to meet constitutional standards.

“This is to prevent impeachment proceedings that do not meet the standards required by the rules and the Constitution from taking away precious time from this committee and this chamber,” she told fellow lawmakers.

She added that impeachment complaints must be supported by solid evidence rather than speculation.

“An impeachment complaint must not be solely based on conjecture, news reports, or bare allegations,” she said.

Malacañang said it remains confident that the impeachment bid against Mr. Marcos would fail.

“Whatever resolution or decision the House of Representatives may arrive at is not within the President’s authority,” Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro told a news briefing in Filipino.

She added that the President expects lawmakers to remain impartial. “The President hopes that the members of the House of Representatives will be guided solely by the evidence presented and the discussions held at the Committee on Justice,” she said.

Ms. Castro said Mr. Marcos is confident he did not commit any impeachable offense.

‘MORAL OBLIGATION’As the House moved to clear Mr. Marcos, Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio faced a fresh impeachment complaint on Monday, her third, filed by religious and civil society groups alleging graft, corruption and plunder.

The 98-page complaint centers on claims that Ms. Duterte misused confidential and intelligence funds allocated to the Office of the Vice-President and Department of Education, violating the Constitution and betraying public trust.

“It remains the moral obligation of Congress to impeach and remove her from office once and for all,” Amando Virgil D. Ligutan, lawyer for the complainants, told reporters after the filing. Party-list Rep. Leila M. de Lima endorsed the complaint.

The Office of the Vice-President did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment. Ms. Duterte has denied wrongdoing.

The 98-page filing accused the Vice-President of plunder over the misuse of P500 million in confidential funds allotted to her office from 2022 to 2023, as well as P112.5 million earmarked for the Education department during her tenure as secretary.

“In truth, the confidential funds went to the Vice-President’s people — not confidential operatives but co-conspirators in malversation,” according to a copy of the complaint.

The complainants also accuses her of enriching herself illegally, claiming her declared income as a former mayor and vice-mayor could not explain the hundreds of millions of pesos allegedly found in her bank accounts.

They also accused her of bribery linked to government contracts and of threatening to kill Mr. Marcos, the First Lady and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, the President’s cousin.

The latest complaint adds to mounting pressure on Ms. Duterte amid calls for greater transparency over the use of confidential and intelligence funds, said Ederson DT. Tapia, a political science professor at the University of Makati.

The accusations may reinforce the narrative already raised in earlier impeachment complaints, he said, noting that repeated filings could keep the issue alive in the public arena even if prospects for conviction remain uncertain.

The twin impeachment efforts could deepen political fault lines between allies of Mr. Marcos in the House and Ms. Duterte, who is widely seen as a potential contender in the 2028 presidential election.

Activists and civil society groups filed separate impeachment complaints against the Vice-President last week, reviving efforts to remove her from office over similar corruption allegations.

Ms. Duterte was impeached by the House last year after more than a third of lawmakers backed a fourth complaint that was quickly sent to the Senate. She later secured a Supreme Court ruling voiding the proceedings, with the high court saying lawmakers violated constitutional rules by bypassing earlier complaints.