The House of Representatives justice committee will deliberate on whether or not the impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. are sufficient in substance.

Committee chairman Gerville Luistro said the next part of the deliberations will be more interesting because it will require the judgment of the justice committee members to determine if the recital of facts in the complaints are enough grounds for impeachment.

“We are not allowed to receive evidence. How they wrote and drafted the allegations therein, ‘yun lang ang basis namin,” she said.

A total of 39 members plus 15 ex-officio members may participate in the deliberations. Manifestations will be limited to 5 minutes each, Luistro said.

If the committee deems the impeachment complaints as sufficient in substance, the panel will then ask the respondent – President Marcos Jr – to file a response. The complainant can then reply while the respondent can also issue a rejoinder.

Submission of evidence, affidavits and counter-affidavits will be done during Step 3, Luistro said.

On the other hand, if the justice committee votes that the complaints are not sufficient in substance, “that will be equivalent to dismissal of the impeachment complaints,” she said.

The justice committee will then submit a report to the House plenary.

Luistro noted that even if the committee finds the complaints as sufficient or insufficient in substance, the committee report can still be reversed if one-third of the plenary votes otherwise.