Swift dismissal of Marcos ouster raps unlikely as lawmakers take caution

THE House Justice Committee is unlikely to immediately dismiss impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. when it begins evaluating their merits on Monday, political analysts said over the weekend.

- By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio Reporter

Lawmakers are expected to take a deliberative approach that could draw out the impeachment process against Mr. Marcos, allowing momentum for his ouster to fade rather than risk political backlash from an outright dismissal, they added.

“The likely outcome is neither drama nor vindication nor a genuine reckoning,” Ederson DT. Tapia, a political science professor at the University of Makati, said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “It is managed quiet.”

“A slow, technical process dissipates attention,” he added. “Enough procedure to claim due process, enough delay to drain attention, and enough legality to justify dismissal, without ever allowing the issue to become a sustained national conversation.”

The 39-member House panel will begin meeting on Monday, Feb. 2, to assess the merits of two impeachment complaints against Mr. Marcos, a process that could set the stage for a full-blown inquiry which could fuel further discontent against the 68-year-old leader who is facing growing criticism over a multibillion-peso graft scandal.

Batangas Rep. Gerville R. Luistro, who heads the Justice committee, had said they would consolidate the complaints and examine whether they meet both “form and substance” requirements under House rules.