DAVAO CITY, Philippines -The House of Representatives (HOR) has filed a Motion of Reconsideration with the Supreme Court (SC) to reverse its ruling that declared the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte as unconstitutional.
The motion was filed through the Office of the Solicitor General, on August 4, Monday, a week after the opening of the 20th Congress.
The HOR’s appeal sets in motion again the continuing debate on the constitutionality of the impeachment, and the call for accountability on Duterte on allegations of corruption, bribery and threats to the president.
The House voted to impeach Duterte last February 7, but the Senate, which was supposed to start the impeachment trial, sat on the case for months while Duterte’s lawyers petitioned the SC to block the impeachment.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez delivered a video message through his Facebook page explaining their filing of reconsideration is “not an act of defiance” against the SC.
“This is not an act of defiance. It is an act of duty. We do not challenge the authority of the Court. We seek only to preserve the rightful role of the House—the voice of the people—in the process of accountability,” Romualdez said.
The House Speaker said they were duty-bound by the constitution on initiating the impeachment.
“The Constitution says : ‘the House of Representatives shall have the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment.’ That power is not shared, not subject for pre-approval and not conditional,” the House leader added.
In their petition, the HOR defended their impeachment vote last February was constitutional.
“Only one impeachment can be initiated, and that initiation begins with a one-third endorsement or a referral. That is exactly what the House did.”
The SC, however, said that their vote last February violated the one-year bar rule on impeachment, as they were three earlier impeachment complaints filed last December 2024 by citizens and cause-oriented groups. For the SC, these three complaints already initiated the motion for impeachment.
But Romualdez argued that their House records showed they acted on the fourth impeachment complaint raised that was on February, and archived the three earlier complaints.
“That sequence matters. It proves there was only one valid initiation, not four,” he said.
The House leader also said the SC decision may set a dangerous precedent on future impeachment actions on high ranking officials.
“When the Court lays down rules for how it, or others like it, may be impeached, it puts itself in the dangerous position of writing conditions that may shield itself from future accountability. That is not how checks and balances work.”
The SC decision has stirred discussions in the legal community.
Former SC Chief Justice Raul Panganiban in a statement said the SC decision is still appealable, which is what the HOR is doing.
Panganiban said the SC could have set oral arguments with legal experts, House leaders and the petitioners to deliberate on the impeachment’s constitutionality.
“In the least, if only to accord respect to a coequal branch of the government, the HOR I would have called for Oral Argument before making up my mind and casting my vote,” the retired Chief Justice said.
“If the Court had patiently heard Oral Argument on less important problems like the recognition of foreign divorces and the PhilHealth petitions, why not on this monumental case?” he added.
Attorney Mel Sta. Maria, broadcaster and former Dean of the Far Eastern University College of Law, said the HOR’s motion has a strong argument based on its official House records as to which impeachment complaint was officially initiated.
He questioned the SC for relying on a news account on the transmittal of impeachment.
“Tama naman argument ng OSG (The OSG’s argument is right), how can ABS-CBN News account be more credible than the facts recorded in official HOR records?” the former dean said.
Meanwhile, the Senate announced that it would decide on August 6, Wednesday, whether they would continue the impeachment trial or respect the SC decision.(davaotoday.com)
