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The impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen at the House of Representatives is now with the House committee on justice.

The House of Representatives during its plenary session referred the impeachment complaint to the justice committee on Tuesday, May 18.

The committee will then hold its own hearings to determine the form and substance of the impeachment complaint – which has earlier been flagged by legal luminaries as “baseless.”

Under Section 3, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution, “the House of
Representatives shall have the exclusive power to initiate all cases
of impeachment.”

Remember the complaint

The impeachment complaint was submitted to the Office of the House Secretary-General by Edwin Cordevilla, who identified himself as secretary-general of Filipino League of Advocates for Good Government, on December 7, 2020.

Ilocos Norte 2nd District Representative Angelo Marcos Barba, cousin of defeated vice presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, endorsed the impeachment complaint filed against Leonen.

In his impeachment complaint, Cordevilla accused Leonen of culpable violation of the 1987 Constitution, delaying the resolution of cases, and betrayal of public trust.

How it is related to Bongbong Marcos’ defeat

The complaint was filed after the Marcos camp failed to force Leonen to inhibit from the electoral protest case by Marcos against Vice President Leni Robredo –  a case he lost in the Supreme Court (SC)

The SC sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) unanimously dismissed the electoral protest filed by Marcos in February 2021.

In a statement on Tuesday evening, House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said he believed the justice committee lawmakers “will act judiciously on the impeachment complaint based on constitutional grounds and in accordance with established rules and practices.”  Romualdez is also a cousin of Marcos. – Rappler.com