The two impeachment complaints filed against President Marcos hurdled their first obstacle on Monday, Feb. 2 after they were declared sufficient in form by the House Committee on Justice.

Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro says this development paves the way for the determination of the complaints' sufficiency in substance in its scheduled hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 3.

The first complaint against Marcos, filed last Jan. 19 by lawyer Andre de Jesus, was declared sufficient in form via vote of 46-1-1 (yes-no-abstain).

Meanwhile, the second complaint, filed last Jan. 26 by a group of activists and ex-House members that included Liza Maza, Teddy Casiño, France Castro, Arlene Brosas, and Neri Colmenares, was declared the same via 45-9-1 vote.

The panel discussion Monday was relatively straightforward, as the attending congressmen were merely concerned with matters such as the proper signing and notarization of the documents presented. The entire affair lasted around two hours.

But the deliberations won't be as simple Tuesday, when the Luistro papel assesses whether or not the arguments for Marcos' ouster can be substantiated with evidence.

The De Jesus complaint was taken up first and was dispensed with relatively quickly.

However, the panel initially held off acting on the Maza et al complaint after Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez raised questions about its verification. In particular, he cited the absence of notarization and proper identification with the document

“If you look at the verification itself, there’s no notarization. How can it be a valid verification?” Rodriguez said.

Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua and 6th district Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. also flagged the second complaint and raised the need to determine whether or not the complainants--which included militant leaders--met the constitutional requirement of being taxpayers.

Ultimately, the panel members deemed that the Maza et al complaint passed the sufficiency test.