Philippine President Marcos hit with another impeachment complaint

MANILA - Members of Philippine civil society groups filed an impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Jan 22, accusing him of systematically bilking taxpayers out of billions of dollars for bogus flood control projects.

Rage over so-called ghost infrastructure projects has been building for months in the archipelago country of 116 million, where entire towns were buried in floodwaters driven by powerful typhoons in the past year.

The Jan 22 filing, endorsed by the Makabayan bloc, a coalition of left-wing political parties, accuses Mr Marcos of betraying the public trust by packing the national budget with projects aimed at redirecting funds to allies.

Under the Philippine Constitution, passage of articles of impeachment in the House of Representatives triggers a Senate trial, where a guilty verdict would mean removal from office and disqualification from future public posts.

A copy of the complaint was filed at the House of Representatives’ Office of the Secretary General “in accordance with House rules”, petitioners said on Jan 22, though the official was not present to receive it herself.

“The President institutionalised a mechanism to siphon over 545.6 billion peso (S$11.8 billion) in flood control funds, directing them into the hands of favoured cronies and contractors and converting public coffers into a private war chest for the 2025 (midterm) elections,” says a summary of the filing seen by AFP.

It also accuses the president of directly soliciting kickbacks, a charge that relies heavily on unproven allegations made by a former congressman who fled the country while under investigation.

“The President’s involvement in the grand scheme of corruption makes impeachment necessary to hold him accountable. The people have been robbed repeatedly and systematically,” the summary says.

Presidential spokeswoman Claire Castro declined to discuss the filing.

“Let’s wait (to see) its contents. We cannot address that as at now if we do not have the details of their complaints,” she said on Jan 22, adding that Mr Marcos was recovering after spending the night under medical observation for an undisclosed illness.

Mr Marcos has consistently noted that he was the one who put the issue of ghost projects centre stage and taken credit for pushing investigations that have implicated scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers.

But complainant Liza Maza told reporters on Jan 22 she believed the moves were only intended to deflect blame.

“We think the investigation he initiated is just a cover-up,” she said. “Because the truth is, he is the head of this corruption.”

Hours later, a group with ties to former president Rodrigo Duterte showed up at the House of Representatives with their own corruption-based impeachment complaint against the President, only to depart without leaving a copy.

The Jan 22 complaint was not the first filed against Mr Marcos this week.

Under the constitution, any citizen can file an impeachment complaint, provided it is endorsed by one of the more than 300 members of congress.

On Jan 19, a local lawyer brought a case citing Duterte’s arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Court, as well as unproven allegations of drug abuse.

Associate Professor Dennis Coronacion, chair of the political science department at Manila’s University of Santo Tomas, told AFP at the time that the document relied largely on “rehashed or recycled allegations” and lacked “sufficient evidence”.

On Jan 22, Dr Coronacion said the new complaint was also unlikely to go far in a congress packed with Marcos allies.

“This... has a very slim chance of getting the approval of the House Committee on Justice and (even less) so in the plenary, because the President still enjoys the support of the members of the House of Representatives,” Dr Coronacion said. AFP