DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The Supreme Court has declared that the impeachment articles filed against Vice President Sara Duterte was unconstitutional, citing violations of the one-year bar rule and flaws in the process made by the House of Representatives who impeached Duterte last February.
The SC clarified on Friday that this decision does not prevent the refiling of the complaint against Duterte, which would be on February 2026 after the one-year bar lapses.
Duterte was impeached last February by a vote of 215 members of the House on the grounds of alleged corruption of government funds, bribery, threats made against the president and other violations against the Constitution.
The corruption issue was unearthed during the 2024 budget hearings and subsequent House committee hearings that revealed unexplained distribution and liquidation of confidential funds.
The bribery charge was based on testimonies of a former education official and staff from the Department of Education which Duterte formerly headed, about receiving cash envelopes believed to be used to influenced procurement of materials.
Duterte’s lawyers petitioned the Supreme Court last February 18, arguing that the House violated the Constitution’s one-year bar rule with four impeachment complaints filed against the Vice President.
Three separate impeachment complaints were filed against the Vice President last December by groups consisting of party-lists, lawyers, leaders of civil society and progressive groups. The House voted in February to impeach Duterte.
Duterte has yet to make a statement as she visiting her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is detained at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Allies of the Dutertes, including Senator and former police chief Ronaldo ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa welcomed the SC decision.
The SC voted unanimously, 13-0, to void the impeachment complaint. One SC justice abstained while another was on leave. Twelve of the justices were appointed during the Duterte administration.
Fight for accountability lost
With the SC decision, the Senate impeachment will not push through. The Senate had convened its court last June but voted to “remand” or return the impeachment complaint to the House citing questions on its constitutionality.
Members of the House of Representatives prosecution team expressed that the decision denied the pursuit of accountability on the Vice President.
“In this decision, the people, the fight for accountability, lost. Impeachment is about accountability. There was no violation of due process — only a demand to present the truth to the Filipino people,” said Akbayan Party-list Representative Attorney Chel Diokno, the founding dean of the De La Salle University College of Law.
Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. and former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima questioned the SC as it did not ask the side of the House of Representatives to respond to the points raised by the petition of Duterte’s lawyers.
“The Supreme Court’s decision…is not only unprecedented; it is procedurally questionable,” de Lima said.
“This was a decision made without asking the other side to explain. The House of Representatives, the principal respondent in the case, was not given the opportunity to file a formal Comment as required by Rule 65, Section 6 of the Rules of Court. No such order was issued by the Court,” she added.
ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio, whose party endorsed the impeachment, expressed dismay on the decision. “It is difficult to hold corrupt people accountable in this country,” he said.
No vindication
De Lima clarified that the court decision does not clear Sara Duterte from wrongdoing.
“To those discouraged: I understand your dismay. But let me assure you: this is not vindication. This is not exoneration,” she said. “Walang naburang kasalanan. Walang nalinis na pangalan (No crime was erased. No name was cleared)”.
“What is certain is that the Vice President’s celebration would be temporary. Citizens will not stop at asking for her accountability for wasting confidential funds,” Tinio added.
The Conference of Major Superiors in the Philippines – Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission (CMSP-JPICC) has issued a strong statement condemning the Supreme Court’s decision that declared the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte unconstitutional.
Calling it a “blatant betrayal of the people’s trust,” the Church leaders criticized the Court for prioritizing “technicalities over transparency” and shielding the Vice President from accountability.
The CMSP-JPICC urged the public and fellow Church leaders to resist inaction and called for peaceful, prophetic resistance, warning that “history and heaven will render their own verdict.”
Davao voices
In Duterte’s bailiwick in Davao City, the SC decision came at the same time that Davao’s civil society and progressive groups held a forum dubbed Strengthening Accountability in Philippine Government at the Ateneo de Davao University.
One of the forum’s hosts, Attorney Romeo Cabarde of Sentrong APILA, said the demand for accountability must continue, as he questioned the SC decision.
“In my humble opinion….at the core of the decision is a flawed interpretation of what constitutes the “initiation” of impeachment,” he observed, saying the SC previously ruled that the initiation occurs when the complaint is referred to the House Committee on Justice.
“Yet, in a puzzling twist, the decision asserts that mere inclusion of an impeachment complaint in the Order of Business constitutes initiation—even without referral. This undermines the very logic behind the Francisco ruling. How can complaints that were never referred to committee, never deliberated upon, and never triggered any substantive process be considered as “initiated”?,” Cabarde points out.
Attorney Dexter Lopoz, spokesperson of the Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao and member of Akbayan, said, “We cannot be the collateral damage in the Kadiliman versus Kasamaan (Darkness versus Evil) war!,” implying that their search for truth should not be derailed by the faction between Dutertes and the Marcoses.
“The message was clear: No Supreme Court decision can stop the people’s resolve to demand accountability. Not today, not ever. Tuloy ang laban para sa pananagutan (The fight for accountability continues),” Cabarde added.(davaotoday.com)
