A political earthquake almost shook the Philippines Thursday. Allies of former President Duterte tried to impeach President Marcos. They had papers ready. But their explosive plan hit a sudden, strange wall: a locked office.
Former officials Ronald Cardema and his wife, Duceille Marie, went to Congress. They arrived at 3:20 p.m. They wanted to file papers to remove President Marcos from his job. But they couldn’t. The office of the House Secretary General, the person who needed to receive the complaint, was closed.
A sign on the door said the office was busy. It said they were in a “strategic planning session” from May 6 to 8. And Congress is always closed on Fridays. The Cardemas waited until business hours ended. But the doors stayed shut. They had to leave without filing their serious complaint.
Why the Uproar? A President Accused of Betrayal
What was in those papers? The Cardemas say President Marcos broke the law. They accuse him of letting former President Duterte be “illegally arrested and transfer[red]” for the International Criminal Court (ICC). This, they claim, is a serious offense. They say Marcos broke the trust of the Filipino people.
The complaint is 24 pages long. It says Marcos is “guilty of culpable violation of the Constitution.” This means seriously breaking the country’s main law. It also says he committed “betrayal of public trust.”
The Cardemas argue that the Philippines left the ICC. So, they say, the ICC has no power here anymore. They believe President Marcos should not have helped another country’s police, Interpol, regarding Mr. Duterte. “It is not within the President’s prerogative to unilaterally decide the validity of an international warrant,” they stated. They mean the President can’t decide alone if a foreign arrest order is okay. They believe Philippine courts should decide this.
By acting, they said, Mr. Marcos “ceded sovereign control.” This means he gave away the country’s power over its own legal matters to an international group. This, they insist, is a “blatant constitutional violation.”
Palace: We Followed the Law
But President Marcos’s office, Malacañang, sees it differently. They have long said the government did nothing wrong. They state they were just working with Interpol, the international police. This is something they promised to do under the law.
The Palace also pointed to a law, Republic Act No. 9851. This law says the Philippines can “surrender or extradite suspected or accused persons” to an international court or another country.
Speaker Martin Romualdez, a key leader in Congress, said not much could happen with the complaint right away, even if it was filed. “We’re not in session right now so not much can be done,” he said Thursday night. Congress is on break. He added, “We have to wait for the proper time to receive that.” Sessions restart June 2, but the current Congress ends soon after, on June 13.
A “Ministerial Duty” Ignored?
The Cardemas were not happy about the closed office. They said the rules for impeachment state papers should be filed “with the OFFICE of the Secretary-General.” They argued, “It does not state that it should be the Head of Office himself. It is [the] ministerial duty for any government office to receive documents.” This means it’s a basic, required job for the office to take the papers.
Ronald Cardema was appointed by Mr. Duterte as a youth commissioner. His wife also served in Congress. His sister, Drixie Mae Cardema, is a current Duterte Youth representative. She was supposed to support the impeachment.
A Widening Crack in Power?
This is the first impeachment attempt against President Marcos. It comes as things seem tense between him and Vice President Sara Duterte, who is the former president’s daughter. She herself might face an impeachment trial once Congress meets again in July.
Legal experts are divided. Some say the ICC can still look into Mr. Duterte’s case, even if some question how an arrest might happen. The Supreme Court even ruled in 2021 that the Philippines still has obligations to cooperate with the international body.
Others, like former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, argued that Mr. Duterte should have been brought to a Philippine court first. But retired Associate Justice Antonio Carpio argued an arrest based on international cooperation would be valid under RA 9851.
The impeachment papers weren’t filed. The big political fight was delayed, not defeated. But the questions hang heavy in the air. What happens next in this high-stakes drama that pits old allies against new leaders? The nation watches, waiting for the silence to break and the next move to be made.
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