MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. praised his son, House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, for recusing himself from deliberations on impeachment complaints filed against the President, saying the move is necessary to ensure the process is fair.

Sandro Marcos, who represents the first district of Ilocos Norte, opted not to participate in discussions, deliberations, or proceedings of the House rules committee on the complaints. He cited the need to preserve the chamber’s integrity, protect the credibility of its processes, and uphold public trust in the constitutional system.

“The House must be allowed to discharge its constitutional duties without any shadow of personal interest, real or imagined,” Sandro Marcos said.

In a video interview released Wednesday night by the Presidential Communications Office, President Marcos described his son’s action as “very proper.”

“I also heard it from the news. He (Sandro) did not inform me about it, but what he did was right. That’s very proper because I am his father. Of course, he is biased for me,” the President said. “He should recuse himself. He should remove himself from the process so that the process can be seen to be fair and proper.”

The House justice panel is set to deliberate on the two referred impeachment complaints against President Marcos next week.

The first complaint, filed by lawyer Andre de Jesus and endorsed by Pusong Pinoy party-list Rep. Jett Nisay, alleged that the President betrayed public trust and committed a culpable violation of the Constitution. It cited his supposed order to “kidnap” and surrender former President Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court and alleged failure to veto unconstitutional provisions in the past four national budgets.

The second complaint, filed by the Makabayan coalition and endorsed by ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Rep. Sarah Elago, and Kabataan Rep. Renee Co, accused Marcos of betraying public trust by adopting a parametric formula allegedly resulting in kickbacks in government infrastructure projects.

Malacañang has denied all allegations, maintaining that the President’s actions are lawful. Presidential Communications Officer Claire Castro said Marcos would respect the impeachment process and noted that no discussions have yet taken place regarding the composition of his legal team.