The House of the Representatives' Committee on Justice on Thursday, June 3, formally dismissed the impeachment complaint filed against Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Marvic Leonen.
Twenty members of the House panel, chaired by Leyte 3rd District Representative Vicente Veloso, voted to approve the committee report and resolution upholding their decision to junk the impeachment complaint filed by Edwin Cordevilla of the group Filipino League of Advocates for Good Government.
There were no negative votes or abstention.
Last May 27, 44 congressmen were unanimous in junking outright the complaint against Leonen as they found the case insufficient in form.
"The allegations therein are not supported by personal knowledge of the complainant neither was it supported by any authentic records," Veloso reiterated on Thursday.
The impeachment complaint, filed December 7 last year, claimed, among others, that Leonen betrayed public trust for failing to file his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) -- the same ground used to impeach former Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012, and to remove Chief Maria Lourdes Sereno during the 17th Congress.
Veloso explained the unlike Leonen's, the complaint against Sereno was backed by certified true copies of SC issuances and other documents, which the House justice committee found "sufficient" in March, 2018.
"In other words, an impeachment complaint must not be solely based on conjecture, news reports or mere allegations," he said.
"Impeachment is a sacred process of demanding public accountability from impeachable officers, but to allow a complainant to file a complaint without any supporting evidence and expect this committee to make a finding on the basis that is not allowed by our impeachment rules...it would be mockery of this process. This, we will not allow" Veloso pointed out.
Cordevilla's complaint against Leonen was endorsed by Ilocos Norte 2nd District Rep. Angelo Marcos Barba, cousin of former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
Leonen penned the SC's dismissal of Marcos' electoral protest against Vice President Leni Robredo.
With the dismissal of the impeachment complaint against him, Leonen will enjoy a one-year immunity from being subjected to a similar complaint before the House of Representatives, as provided in the Constitution.