SC asked: Stop House ‘fishing expedition’ on VP Sara

MANILA, Philippines — For the second time, the ongoing impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte by the House of Representatives are being challenged before the Supreme Court, with lawyers aligned with her seeking to stop the hearings, which they alleged have become a “fishing expedition.”

A group of 10 led by lawyer Israelito Torreon filed through electronic means before 10 a.m. yesterday, their petition for certiorari and prohibition, as well as a request for temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction against House of Representatives justice committee chairperson Rep. Gerville Luistro and Speaker Faustino Dy III.

Torreon’s petition included lawyers Martin Delgra III, Jimmy Bondoc and Vic Rodriguez, who used to be President Marcos’ executive secretary.

In their joint statement, they argued that the House justice committee “committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction by allowing impeachment complaints that are ‘constitutionally and procedurally defective on their face’ to proceed beyond the threshold stage.”

They pointed out the body’s order to issue “sweeping subpoenas for SALNs (statements of assets, liabilities and net worth), NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) materials, affidavits, COA (Commission on Audit) records and even the General Information Sheets and Audited Financial Statements of corporations not mentioned in the impeachment complaint, as well as subpoenas directed to a law firm” during a hearing on March 25.

The House justice committee ordered the Office of the Ombudsman to produce Duterte’s SALNs from 2007 to 2010 when she was Davao City vice mayor, from 2010 to 2013 and from 2016 to 2022 when she was mayor and during her term as Vice President since 2022.

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez objected to the summon on Duterte’s SALNs, describing it as a “classic fishing expedition.”

The body also wanted the tax records of Duterte, her husband Manases Carpio and businesses allegedly linked to them from 2007 to 2025.

Also summoned were NBI records on Duterte’s assassination threat against President Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos and cousin former House speaker Martin Romualdez, as well as Duterte’s alleged bagman Ramil Madriaga.

“The (justice) committee’s task at the threshold stage is to screen, not to manufacture a case… That is why we say, without exaggeration, that the March 25 proceedings became a fishing expedition. Threshold review is not a license for a fishing expedition,” they emphasized.

During a press conference in Davao City after the electronic filing, Rodriguez asserted the House of Representatives committed “a legislative overreach (which) is a clear violation of the Constitution” and even the House’s own rules on impeachment.

Torreon explained, “The House of Representatives violated its own rules. It even expanded its own powers, by sending subpoenas in order to strengthen the case.”

“What we contemplated to be the proper procedure is that the impeachment case should be completed itself, and the House of Representatives should have determined whether or not it was sufficient in form and substance… but to expand the same and conduct a fishing expedition against the Vice President, to our humble mind is incorrect because that is no longer within the purview of the powers recognized by the 1987 Constitution and the rules of the House of Representatives,” he added.

In addition, Torreon’s group pointed out that the third and fourth impeachment complaints – filed by Fr. Jose Saballa and lawyer Nathaniel Cabrera – were “defective in both form and substance, citing reliance on conclusions, hearsay and unauthenticated materials instead of concrete allegations of impeachable acts.”

The complaints were endorsed by Reps. Leila de Lima, Bienvenido Abante Jr. and Paolo Ortega V.

Death threat ‘comical’

Meanwhile, a counsel of Duterte described yesterday as “comical” the claim of Madriaga that former Negros Oriental representative Arnolfo Teves Jr. wants him dead.

In a statement, Paolo Panelo said Madriaga shifted his narrative to “insinuate that Duterte, through Teves, is behind the alleged threat to his life since his lie was exposed.”

“Let us recall that Madriaga, through his counsel, previously claimed that Vice President Sara Duterte visited him in jail to persuade him not to testify. That story was quickly debunked by (Department of the Interior and Local Government) Secretary Jonvic Remulla, who confirmed that VP Sara visited Teves, not Madriaga,” he said.

Meanwhile, Duterte warned that the food situation would be more difficult in the coming months amid the threat of El Niño from April-June, and the possibility of flooding from July to September due to storms and rains.

“In our careful spending, let us prioritize enough food for our family, medical treatment for the sick and the education of our children. The most effective defense against a crisis is preparedness,” Duterte said in her video message. — Bella Cariaso