Malacañang on Thursday dismissed as baseless a second impeachment complaint filed against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., this time lodged by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and endorsed by the Makabayan Bloc, saying the allegations lack proof and are largely speculative.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the complaint, which accuses the President of abuse of discretionary powers over unprogrammed appropriations in the national budget and alleged involvement in budget-related kickbacks, is “story-weaving” without substance.
“Kapag sinabi nilang abusive, kailangan talagang i-prove ito. Kung wala naman po silang mailalagay na anumang pruweba sa kanilang complaint ay nagagawa lamang po silang kuwento, naghahabi ng istorya (When they say it’s abusive, they really need to prove it. If they can’t put any proof in their complaint, they’re just making up stories, weaving a story),” Castro said in a Palace press briefing.
The complaint, filed by Bayan chair Renato Reyes and former ACT Teachers Party-list representative France Castro, and endorsed by the Makabayan Bloc led by current ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Rep. Sarah Elago and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co, accuses Marcos of betrayal of public trust for allegedly mishandling unprogrammed appropriations, a fund meant for urgent or unforeseen government needs and released at the President’s discretion.
It cited the use of a so-called BBM parametric formula or Baselined-Balanced-Managed (BBM) formula institutionalized as a system akin to the controversial pork barrel, but Castro said the administration has yet to see evidence supporting the allegation.
“Unang-una, nasaan po ba iyong sinasabi nating BBM parametric formula? They have to prove that. Panglawa po iyong sinasabi ninyong pork barrel, mapapatunayan po natin sa mga ginawa ng Pangulo na pinag-ingatan… marami po ang nasaktan dahil hindi naibigay ang kanilang mga budget dahil pinag-ingatan po at may ‘for later release (First of all, where is the BBM parametric formula we are talking about? They have to prove that. Second, on the pork barrel issue, we can prove that the actions of the President protected the budget, in fact many were hurt because their budgets were not given because they were kept and there was a ‘for later release,’” she added.
This is the second impeachment complaint filed against Marcos since he assumed office in 2022.
The first, lodged by lawyer Andre de Jesus and endorsed by Pusong Pinoy Party-list Rep. Jernie Jett Nisay earlier this week, accused Marcos of constitutional violations and betrayal of public trust over alleged flood control project kickbacks and the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Malacañang has already dismissed the initial complaint as a rehash of previously addressed issues. (PNA)
