Citing the Supreme Court’s recent decision calling the articles as “unconstitutional.”
On Wednesday, August 6, the Philippine Senate tackled during its plenary session the Supreme Court’s decision on the Duterte vs. HRep case, which effectively sided with Vice President Sara Duterte.
This, as the SC decided that the impeachment articles against the second-highest official of the land, which were transmitted by the House of Representatives last February 5, were “unconstitutional” for allegedly violating the one-year ban on impeachment proceedings.
Hence, the upper chamber of Congress voted on the motion of Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, as amended by Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, to transfer the impeachment articles to the Senate archives.
19 Senators were in favor of the motion, 1 entered abstain (Sen. Ping Lacson), while four others—Senators Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, Kiko Pangilinan, and Tito Sotto—voted against it, as they were pushing to table the articles for the time being.
By tabling it, as Sotto explained, the Senate could tackle it again anytime, given that there is a pending motion for reconsideration submitted by the House of Representatives before the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Senate President Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero stressed the paramount importance of upholding the rule of law and vowed that the Senate will not be swayed by political allegiance and ambition.
“Let history record that in this moment, we chose the Constitution. We chose the rule of law by defending the integrity of the Supreme Court and maintaining the system of checks and balances,” Escudero said.
He added, “Let this chamber be remembered not for the passions we inflamed, but for the principles we upheld,” he added.
The impeachment raps filed against VP Sara Duterte can be traced back to the controversy surrounding her use of confidential funds following an investigation into her office’s budget in the Lower House in late 2024.
Amid the kerfuffle, a midnight online press conference made by Duterte in November also further fueled the issue.
During which, she infamously mentioned about allegedly hiring someone to go after President Bongbong Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, should something happen to her.
These events soon led to the filing, in quick succession, of the first three impeachment raps by sector groups, lawmakers, and other members of the public in December 2024.
By February 5, a fourth complaint was voted upon at the HRep, which was overwhelmingly backed by the majority of representatives, and was soon transmitted to the Senate on the same day.
However, that also being the last day of session before the election break, the impeachment complaint was not tackled in the Senate plenary until June 9.