Joselito Malig

Article (news)

Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

MANILA - The Senate sitting as an impeachment court cannot dismiss the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, according to a member of the House prosecution panel.Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro said the 1987 Constitution mandates both a trial by the impeachment court and a decision on the articles of impeachment.She refuted Senate President Francis Escudero’s position that if a motion to dismiss is raised, the impeachment court, by a majority vote, can dismiss the complaint against Duterte.“The impeachment court cannot dismiss the articles of impeachment. The constitution is clear. The power/function of the impeachment court is to try and to decide. Let us take note of the use of the word &quot;and&quot;,” Luistro said.<div> <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/6/25/house-prosecutors-file-certification-vp-duterte-s-impeachment-followed-constitution-1725">House prosecutors file certification VP Duterte&#x27;s impeachment followed Constitution</a></div>“Trial on the merits is mandatory. Ample opportunity to present evidence must be given both to the prosecution and the defense. Then and only then can the senator judges decide whether to convict or to acquit. When the Constitution does not provide, we should not provide,” she added.At least two House leaders questioned Escudero’s position.“Bakit? Anong reasons ninyo para i-dismiss or i-junk? Are you more powerful than the Constitution? Or the bigger question is ayaw n’yo bang marinig ang gusto marinig ng taumbayan?” House Assistant Majority Leader Rep. Ernesto Dionisio Jr. asked.“Dapat ba i-junk? Because the verified impeachment complaints are not mere scrap of paper. These are serious allegations… The Filipino people deserves to know what happened,” House Assistant Majority Leader Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong also said. Dionisio and Adiong, who were reelected last May, said their support for the impeachment complaint against Duterte will not change in the 20th Congress.They also denied Duterte’s allegation that lawmakers were promised money to sign the impeachment complaint against her.“I strongly, strongly denounce the statement na binayaran. Mga salitang ganyan is trying to, you know, evade the real issue. The issue is there’s an impeachment complaint filed by a Filipino citizen, dinala sa Kongreso. We have to act upon it as a Constitutional mandated duty by Congress… May batayan ba, may pamantayan? Yes,” Dionisio said.“The Articles of Impeachment were passed overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives. Compared to the devious acknowledgment receipts, the verified impeachment complaint has the blessing—it carries with it the blessing—of the Constitution. If we allow such remarks to go unchallenged, we do not only disregard this constitutional mandate given to us by the Constitution, given to the House of Representatives, but it also undermines Constitutional mechanism. Isa ‘yan—ang impeachment process,” Adiong added. <div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/6/24/sara-duterte-calls-impeachment-case-scrap-of-paper-pleads-not-guilty-2321">Sara Duterte calls impeachment case &#x27;scrap of paper&#x27;, pleads not guilty</a></div>“Nobody has the right to say that the Constitution, Article 11, is just there simply to be abused by anybody for the purpose of preventing anyone from ever seeking any offices in the coming and in future elections,” he noted<div> OWN VERSION?</div>ML Party List Representative-elect Leila De Lima also slammed Escudero’s position that the impeachment court, by a vote of majority, can dismiss the case against Duterte, if a motion is made.“May Chiz Escudero version na talaga ang 1987 Constitution. Ibang iba sa original,” she said. “He has been showing that kind of posturing, as if the 1987 Constitution is not there, as if the 1987 Constitution is not clear enough. (04:56) Hindi maiiwasan ‘yung mga agam-agam na this is part of a plan. I don&#x27;t know if this is coordinated, this is something that is consciously being made by the parties, meaning the defense, and then ‘yung senators mismo as an impeachment court,” De Lima added.“People want to know the truth... So pwede ba? Huwag nyo namang subukan na… sinusubukan nila kung ano mga strategy, mga moves and steps para masabotahe ‘yan, para hindi matuloy ‘yung trial. That is not what the Constitution has envisioned for the Senate as an impeachment court,” she noted.The House prosecution has until Monday to file its Reply to Duterte’s Answer Ad Cautelam. As of Thursday, this reply is “essentially complete”, according to House impeachment prosecutor Rep. Rodge Gutierrez.

The Senate sitting as an impeachment court cannot dismiss the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, according to a member of the House prosecution panel.

The Senate sitting as an impeachment court cannot dismiss the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, according to a member of the House prosecution panel.

'Impeachment court cannot dismiss articles of impeachment against Sara Duterte'

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'Impeachment court cannot dismiss articles of impeachment against Sara Duterte'

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jun 26, 2025 10:53 PM PHT

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House of Representatives

Impeachment

Sara Duterte

Prosecution panel

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