The House Committee on Justice junked on Thursday (May 27) the impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen.
In the final voting, 44 favored dismissing the complaint while two have inhibited.
The committee’s decision was unanimous because it found the complaint filed as inadequate due to the complainant’s lack of personal knowledge on the basis of his filing, and that it is not based on authenticated documents, but rather on news reports.
“This impeachment complaint, sad to say, [is] a mere scrap of paper, and considering [the] problems we have right now, I think the better way to deal with this is to dismiss this impeachment complaint based on insufficiency as to form,” Senior Deputy Speaker Rep. Doy Leachon said.
House Speaker Rep. Lord Allan Velasco affirmed and urged everyone to respect the decision.
“The House Committee on Justice has spoken and we must respect its decision. With the dismissal of the impeachment complaint against Justice Leonen, Congress can now focus more on the task at hand, which is to produce legislation that would further help our kababayans and the economy recover from the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In a statement, Justice Leonen said the dismissal of the complaint proves the “baselessness of the grounds raised” against him.
“It is an act that powerfully speaks for itself. The immediate and decisive dismissal of the impeachment complaint affirms our faith in the House of Representatives under the leadership of the current Speaker of the House as well as the Committee on Justice,” Leonen wrote.
“It is a leadership that refuses to be used to debase and degrade sacred constitutional processes for unworthy ends. It is also a leadership that seeks to focus on the gravest threats that we face today, provide succor to the suffering multitudes of our people, and in the process find ways and means to heal our needless divisions,” he added.
Filipino League of Advocates for Good Government (FLAGG) Secretary General Edwin Cordevilla filed a complaint against Leonen in December 2020 over an alleged violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust.
READ MORE: Impeachment complaint laban kay Leonen, nasa justice committee na
Report from Daniel Manalastas/NGS-jlo
