Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre has questioned the timing of an alleged verified impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., asking why the petition was filed days before the May 12 polls.— HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES PHOTO
TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte — Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre has questioned the timing of an alleged verified impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., asking why the petition was filed days before the May 12 polls.
At the sidelines of a rally for the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas at the Tacloban Coliseum on Thursday, Acidre admitted that he has not yet read the contents of the complaint filed by ex-National Youth Commission chair Ronald Cardama and his wife Marie, former Duterte Youth partylist representative.
However, Acidre is perplexed why Marcos was affected by mudslinging when the president is not a candidate in the 2025 midterm polls.
“Hindi ko pa rin nababasa ‘yung impeachment pero kaduda-duda na ito ay ipa-file apat na araw bago ang eleksyon,” Acidre said in an ambush interview.
(I haven’t read the impeachment complaint but the timing of the filing — days before an election — is doubtful.)
“Sana ho ang ating mga kababayan ay tingnan hindi po kandidato ang ating presidente at bakit kailangan po itong gawin sa kanya?” Acidre added.
(I hope our people will see –our president is not a candidate and why should this be done to him?)
The Cardema couple posted on the Facebook page of the Duterte Youth partylist holding a copy of the front page of a “verified impeachment complaint” against Marcos, for supposedly allowing the transfer of former President Rodrigo Duterte to The Hague in the Netherlands to face trial before the International Criminal Court.
READ: Duterte allies to file impeachment case vs Marcos
The Duterte Youth party list, meanwhile, said they have not formally submitted the complaint since House Secretary General Reginald Velasco was not personally at the House.
“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 & Marie Cardema, stating that it should be the SecGen himself,” the Duterte Youth party-list said.
“Again, according to the Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings, Rule 2 Section 3 states ‘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 added.
According to Acidre, he is unsure if the impeachment complaint will be processed within the remaining session days of the 19th Congress.
Congress will resume session by June 2, but will adjourn by June 13 — which means that there will only be a maximum of nine session days remaining, as June 12 is a holiday.
“Ang tanong ko lang ho sa impeachment may dalawang linggo na lang pagkabalik namin ng session, hindi ko ho alam kung may saktong oras pa,” Acidre said.
(My question regarding the impeachment is that we only have two weeks to go once we resume the session, I don’t know if we still have enough time.)
Under the House rules and the 1987 Constitution, an impeachment complaint will only be considered verified if endorsed by a sitting lawmaker. The same requirement was asked of the complaints filed against Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, last December 2024.
Duterte was detained by local authorities after he arrived back at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 last March 11, to help the International Criminal Police Organization in enforcing an arrest order from the ICC.
The ICC arrest order was issued due to the crimes against humanity case against Duterte for his alleged role in the bloody drug war that left thousands dead.
Duterte was flown to The Hague on the same day of his arrest and is awaiting trial before the ICC in September.
READ: ICC sets key dates ahead of Duterte’s September hearing
On March 14, he appeared via video conferencing before ICC Pre-Trial Chamber and the confirmation of his charges is set for September 23, 2025.