Mindanao lawyers ask Supreme Court to halt Sara Duterte's impeachment

MANILA, Philippines — A group of 29 Mindanao lawyers, including counsel Israelito Torreon and former transportation regulatory board chief Martin Delgra, filed a petition with the Supreme Court on Tuesday, February 18, to stop Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial.

Torreon, who also represents detained preacher Apollo Quiboloy, argued that the impeachment complaint is constitutionally deficient and violates due process.

Torreon described the impeachment as “defective” as it allegedly did not consider due process for Duterte. 

“It is very defective because first, it did not consider the three priorly filed impeachment complaints. It did not likewise consider due process to their vice president. It did not also follow the constitutionally prescribed verification process and because of these three and other grounds the impeachment complaint should be dismissed and not entertained,” Torreon said in an interview with reporters.

The lawyers also argued that there was no proper verification of the impeachment complaints in the House of Representatives.

Aside from their main petition, the lawyers also asked the high court for a temporary restraining order, which, if granted, will temporarily halt the impeachment process.

He stated that the 215 members of the House of Representatives only had three hours to review the complaint and verify all its attachments.  

“Can you understand anything in one minute and two seconds? Ang kapal-kapal ng impeachment complaint? (the impeachment complaint is too thick) Why? Because an impeachment complaint is not a road process, it is a process which is sacrosanct,” Torreon said. 

Previous petition at court. This prompted lawyer Catalino Generillo Jr., former special counsel for the Presidential Commission on Good Government, on February 15, to file a petition before the Supreme Court, requesting that the high court compel the Senate to promptly convene as an impeachment court.

In response, Supreme Court spokesperson Camille Ting said the high court’s en banc has ordered the Senate to comment on the petition. 

“The SC required the Senate to comment on the petition within a non-extendible period of 10 days from receipt of notice,” Ting said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

What went before. On February 5, the House of Representatives proceeded to impeach Duterte with 215 of its members backing the fourth impeachment complaint against her. 

Among the articles of impeachment is the alleged misuse of confidential funds and her death threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. 

However, Senate President Chiz Escudero said that an impeachment tribunal would not take place during a congressional break.