Dear Congressman Paolo Marcoleta, please read the House’s impeachment rules handbook

One would expect our honorable lawmakers to be familiar with how House impeachment proceedings go, as they have been clearly laid out in the House rules handbook publicly available on the lower chamber’s website.

Maybe manage your expectations when it comes to SAGIP Representative Rodante Marcoleta.

The party-list lawmaker got multiple reminders from his House colleagues to read their rules on Wednesday, March 18, after he asked a rudimentary question on why the justice committee is deliberating on whether the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte allege sufficient grounds.

“Since I was chief of staff here way back 2004 up to 2024, I’ve witnessed impeachment proceedings against presidents, one ombudsman, one chief justice. But I have not heard discussions on sufficiency in grounds. I’ve always heard sufficiency in form and substance. It’s only now that I heard about sufficiency in grounds,” Marcoleta said.

Committee chair Jinky Luistro indulged his request for a clarification, reading to him Part 3 Rule III Section 7 of the House rules handbook of the 19th Congress, which the 20th Congress adopted.

“After receipt of the pleadings, affidavits and counter-affidavits and relevant documents provided for in Section 6, or the expiration of the time within which they may be filed, the Committee shall determine whether the complaint alleges sufficient grounds for impeachment,” the provision reads.

The explanation — lifted en toto from the House’s own rules — was still not enough to satisfy Marcoleta as he later asked for clarification on whether the committee is in the process of determining whether there are sufficient grounds for impeachment, or is already in the hearing proper. This, despite repeated mentions during the meeting and previous ones that the committee is still on the preliminary stage of deliberations.

“We should have determined the sufficiency in ground before we voted for sufficiency in form and substance,” Marcoleta said, even though the rules handbook clearly says that the determination of sufficiency in form and substance comes first.

“I wish to direct the Honorable Marcoleta to (read) the rules of impeachment. Secretariat, perhaps, we need to provide him a copy of the rules,” Luistro said.

“I encourage all members, even non-members, to read the rules so we are not confused, and we could avoid questions when [the answers] are clearly stated in the rules,” committee vice chair Joel Chua added.

To be fair to Marcoleta, he’s not a member of the justice committee, so he’s not expected to know all the developments in the hearing. But then again, someone who is apparently so invested in the proceedings — to the point of attending meetings of the panel he is not a part of — is expected to at least do some basic research, especially when he plans to raise questions.

Maybe he needs to take that refresher on the executive course on legislation for new House members had attended last year. Here’s a link of the rules for the good congressman’s reference.

– Rappler.com