HOUSE WATCH | When “Public Trust” Becomes the Charge

The phrase is constitutional.
The accusation is political.
The moment is procedural.

Kabataan Partylist Representative Renee Co invoked one of the Constitution’s most cited lines—“Public office is a public trust”—as she endorsed the impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr..

Co said that over recent months, the President had betrayed public trust, arguing that the constitutional command applies not as rhetoric but as a standard of conduct. In her remarks, she framed the endorsement as an expression of public accountability rather than partisan escalation.

“It has become clear to us that President Marcos Jr. has not heeded to this constitutional command. It is for this reason that the people are charging him with betrayal of public trust,” Co said.

Supporters of the impeachment effort say the language returns the debate to first principles—what the Constitution expects of those in power. Critics counter that “betrayal of public trust” is inherently broad and risks becoming a political catch-all.

Discreetly, the exchange highlights a truth about impeachment: the earliest battles are over meaning, not votes. Before committees count numbers, they contest words—what “trust” requires, who defines “betrayal,” and when governance crosses the line into grounds for removal.

Quiet satire, unavoidable reminder: public trust is easiest to quote—hardest to measure.