VP Sara: Legal team preparing for new impeachment

MANILA, Philippines — Fresh from her victory after the Supreme Court (SC) upheld its ruling declaring the Articles of Impeachment against her as unconstitutional, Vice President Sara Duterte said her legal team is already preparing for a new impeachment case against her as the one-year ban rule lapses on Feb. 6.

“First of all, I thank God… second, I thank my lawyers who helped each other to question the abuse of the impeachment process by the House of Representatives. And third, I thank all my countrymen who continue to believe and trust me,” Duterte said.

The SC ruled that impeachment case Duterte violated the one-year bar rule, denying with finality the motion for reconsideration of the House of Representatives.

Court spokesperson Camille Ting said 14 justices voted on the ruling, with Associate Justice Benjamin Caguioa abstaining and Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh unavailable as she was on leave.

In its plea for the SC to reconsider its ruling, the House argued that the fourth impeachment complaint against the Vice President was not yet covered by the one-year bar rule under Article XI, Section 3 subsection (5) of the Constitution.

The fourth impeachment complaint had been endorsed by one-third of House members and transmitted to the Senate on Feb. 6.

“The lawyers, they’ve been preparing. They were hired as early as fourth quarter of 2023, the moment that one of the members of the House of Representatives announced that they will file a case against me. I confirmed that inside the Speaker’s office. So, there are lawyers right away at that time,” Duterte added.

ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio has said civil society members and complainants in the four consolidated impeachment complaints against Duterte are keen on having the case “re-filed and augmented.”

“Until now, the lawyers and legal team continue their work and last year, before Christmas break, we also discussed the preparation for impeachment, not just this year, because surely if they don’t file this year, next year, and until my term ends, they will do that. They will file cases…,” she added.

Palace respects SC ruling

Malacañang on Friday said it respects the SC’s decision, but stressed that it does not settle issues on accountability.

“The President and the administration will respect whatever the Supreme Court’s decision is regarding that,” Castro said at a press briefing. “The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of legal issues, so the President respects that.”

Castro, however, agreed with some quarters that the SC’s ruling was not based on the merits of the impeachment case against the Vice President.

“This was not about settling an issue of the said subject matter. As the President said – those who should be held accountable should be held accountable,” she said.

Asked whether the Palace would ask the House of Representatives to change its rules following the SC ruling, Castro said, “That’s the work of Congress. The President won’t interfere.”

Easier mode possible – Azcuna

All is not lost in efforts to hold impeachable officials of the government accountable, as retired SC associate justice Adolfo Azcuna pointed out that the high tribunal, in its latest ruling, even made the requirements to initiate an impeachment complaint under the second mode – through approval of one-third of the members of the House of Representatives – less stringent.

“My observation there is that the second mode can still be done, wherein one-third of the members of the Lower House will sign, under oath, the Articles (of Impeachment) itself. What the Supreme Court just said is that there must be due process,” Azcuna said in Filipino over radio dzBB yesterday.

Azcuna pointed out that while the original decision requires that each and every member of the House of Representatives must have read and understood the impeachment complaint and the attached evidence before the voting, such requirement was already scrapped in the latest resolution.

“In the original decision, there must be proof that they read and understood both the complaint and the evidence. That (requirement) was scrapped already. What is just needed here in the second mode is to make sure that each and every member of the Lower House has a copy of the complaint and of the evidence,” Azcuna said.

“That’s it. It is no longer required that there is proof that they understand the complaint and the evidence. So it’s easy now to do the second mode,” the retired justice said.

“The previous requirement of a hearing under the second mode is now made optional. It’s up to the Congress to refer it to a committee for hearing or directly transmit it to the Senate. So it’s easier now (to initiate an impeachment) under the second mode,” Azcuna added. — Helen Flores, Elizabeth Marcelo