A third group that attempted to file another impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday is now considering suing House Secretary General Cheloy Garafil for alleged constitutional violation, after the Office of the Secretary General (OSG) refused to accept their submission.
“We tender the complaint and nilatag namin ang mga ebidensya pati ang complaint. In the constitutional sense...legal. We have already submitted the complaint,” the counsel said during a press conference on Friday, January 23.
He added: “May constitutional violation si Secretary General Garafil kaya whether we leave a copy or did not we already tendered the submission of our complaint. Now the ball is in the hands of Garafil.”
“We will file charges against her,” the counsel noted.
The group is composed of lawyers and former congressmen who are known as Duterte allies. The press conference was led by former Anakalusugan Party-list Representative Mike Defensor and Atty. Ferdinand Topacio.
Defensor emphasized that their camp has yet to finalize the legal strategy against Garafil, but stressed that they will file a complaint in the Supreme Court.
“Nagkakaisa kami na this is the warning to the Office of the [Secretary] General that we will file a case against the office. In particular, i-didiscuss namin as for the legal moves pag-uusapan namin after nitong presscon,” said former Anakalusugan Rep. Mike Defensor.
“We will not take this sitting down. We will file a case definitely against the SecGen office, as to their legal course of action, we will have to sit down with the lawyers,” Defensor said.
“We feel that more than personal, it’s our responsibility to the Filipino people to put these charges in play and for the president to answer and to respond doon sa charges namin,” he added.
Garafil was not present to receive the second and third impeachment complaints against Marcos, as she is currently in Taiwan for an official event.
The OSG chose not to receive the complaints in her absence, mirroring the decision for the second complaint filed earlier by progressive groups.
Yesterday, the Makabayan bloc expressed dismay over the OSG executive director's refusal to accept the second impeachment complaint they endorsed, citing that they have no authority to receive the complaint.
