THE Office of the House Secretary General yesterday rejected Duterte Youth party-list’s impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. because Secretary General Reginald Velasco was not available to personally receive it.
The complaint cited Marcos’ alleged hand in allowing the International Criminal Court (ICC) to arrest former president Rodrigo Duterte last March 11 and detain him in the Netherlands where he is facing trial for crimes against humanity.
It accuses the president of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution.
Duterte Youth leaders Ronald Cardema and wife Ducielle Marie Cardema tried to file the 24-page complaint before the Office of the Secretary General but it was not accepted since Velasco was not in the office yesterday.
Duterte Youth is currently represented by Marie’s sister, Rep. Drixie Mae Cardema, the complaint’s endorser.
In a statement, the complainants quoted Velasco’s staff as saying that “it is only the SecGen, who is not in the office now, who can receive” the complaint.
“As of 5 PM, 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 SecGen himself,” it also said.
The complainants, however, said Rule 2 Section 3 of the House’s rules of procedure in impeachment proceedings states that “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. It is ministerial duty for any government office to receive documents,” they said.
While the complaint has yet to be officially filed, Duterte Youth already announced on its Facebook account that it was “already filed.”
The complaint was launched with only two months left in the calendar of the 19th Congress.
It was also filed in the face of the Article of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte over her alleged misuse of confidential funds.
Rep. Jude Acidre (PL, Tingog) questioned the timing of the attempted filing of the complaint, noting that it was done with only four days left before the May 12 midterm elections.
“I haven’t read the impeachment but it’s the timing (that) is dubious,” he told reporters in Tacloban City, Leyte.
Acidre reminded the public that while he is campaigning for the 11 senatorial candidates of the administration’s “Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas,” the president is not a candidate.
“I hope the people realize that our president is not a candidate so why do this to him?” he said.
Acidre also doubted if the complaint can still be acted upon since Congress is still on recess.
Only two weeks will be left in the legislative calendar when session resumes next month.
OMBUDSMAN COMPLAINT
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said he will meet today with the other respondents in the case filed by Sen. Imee Marcos before the Office of the Ombudsman to map out their legal strategy, including the possible filing of a single response to the complaint.
“Tomorrow (Friday), we’ll have a meeting between the respondents in the case filed by Senator Imee. We will be meeting also tomorrow here. I just called them to come over so that we can coordinate everything, share the legal foundations by which we stand to defend ourselves,” Remulla said.
“We’ll talk about it. We’ll discuss it. There are specific allegations to some other persons in the group but there are many problems that are there, with the fact that this is not really a committee report,” he also said.
Ombudsman Samuel Martirez on Tuesday asked Remulla, his brother Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, PNP chief Gen. Rommel Marbil, PNP-CIDG chief Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, and Special Envoy on Transnational Crimes Markus Lacanilao to answer Marcos’ complaint.
Marcos filed her complaint on May 2. She is seeking their indictment for arbitrary detention, usurpation of judicial functions, violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019), usurpation of authority or official functions, and false testimony and perjury.
A separate complaint charged the same Cabinet members, police generals, and DFA official with grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
Marcos filed her complaint in conjunction with the findings of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, which she chairs, that Duterte’s arrest and surrender to the ICC were allegedly unlawful.
Remulla again expressed his frustration over what he described as Martirez’ alleged oddly swift action on Marcos’ complaint, noting that there are other “more serious” cases that the Ombudsman has yet to act, such as the Pharmally mess.
“There are other more serious cases which have not been acted upon that are still pending with the Ombudsman. For example, the Pharmally cases, that’s P10 billion in peoples’ money clearly stolen, nothing has happened on that. Hopefully they will also give attention to the other cases that are cold cases right now, but people are crying out to be resolved,” he said.
He reiterated there should be a fact-finding conducted by the Ombudsman on the cases lodged by Marcos before they were asked to respond.
“Nakakapagtaka kasi lahat kaming mga abugado, alam naman namin may fact-finding yan eh. Hindi basta bastang binibigay yan. There’s something more to it than meets the eye. Hindi natin alam kung ano yun (It’s really surprising, especially since we are all lawyers, we know that there should be a fact-finding probe first. You don’t immediately order respondents to file their answers. There’s something more to it than meets the eyes. We don’t know that),” he added.
Marcos said the Ombudsman probe would not prompt her to suspend her panel’s probe into Duterte’s arrest.
She said the committee still needs to find out who gave the direct orders to arrest Duterte and what were the circumstances behind the hiring of the Lear jet which transported the former president to the Hague.
DISMISSED
The National Police Commission (Napolcom) has dismissed from the service a Quezon City policeman who was charged with inciting to sedition after saying on social media that he is not going to follow orders from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. following Duterte’s apprehension.
In a statement yesterday, the Napolcom said its commissioners voted unanimously on Wednesday afternoon to dismiss Patrolman Francis Steve Fontillas from the police force.
Fontillas was found by the commission guilty of grave misconduct, conduct unbecoming of a police officer, and disloyalty to the government, thus the penalty.
Aside from the dismissal, Fontillas was also given the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from public service.
Last Friday, the Quezon City Police District said that Fontillas has resigned from the PNP effective April 10. It said his resignation was approved by National Capital Region Police Office director Maj. Gen. Anthony Aberin.
Napolcom vice chairperson and executive officer Rafael Vicente Calinisan said: “Fontillas’ resignation did not stay the administrative and criminal cases filed against him.”
“Since Fontillas was already formally charged (administratively) in the Napolcom before his resignation, the Napolcom already acquired jurisdiction over his person,” said Calinisan, adding that Fontillas “cannot conveniently escape liability through resignation, and was thus made liable, as he should be.”
He said Napolcom wanted to be “kind” to Fontillas, given the latter’s “condition,” referring to the policeman’s mental health condition.
However, Calinisan said what’s at stake is the “paramount interest of the Filipino people.”
“With a strong commitment, that under my watch, our policemen will serve and protect the people. While our core mission includes the morale and welfare of our policemen, we will go hard against rogue cops who would tarnish the uniform and erode the public trust,” he said.
Calinisan said the case of Fontillas should serve as a “stern warning” to all policemen, especially with the national and local elections drawing near.
“Again, strictly no politics in the uniformed service,” he said.
In March, the QCPD filed inciting to sedition charges against Fontillas after saying on Facebook that he is not going to follow orders from Marcos as he expressed his opposition to the former president’s arrest and surrender to the ICC. – With Ashzel Hachero, Raymond Africa and Victor Reyes
