Joselito Malig

Article (news)

Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

MANILA - A House impeachment prosecutor hopes the Supreme Court will be “enlightened” by a motion to be filed by the lower chamber seeking reconsideration on its decision to nullify and declare unconstitutional the House impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.“We maintain our commitment to uphold accountability. Definitely we will be exhausting the filing of the motion for reconsideration, hoping that the Supreme Court will still be enlightened about the principle of separation of power,” Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro said.“Kapag may compliance with the basic requirements, the signing and the verification of one-third (of House members), it (Articles of Impeachment) enjoys already the presumption of regularity and legality,” she explained.ML Party List Rep. Leila De Lima shares Luistro’s “hopefulness” on the chances of the House’s motion for reconsideration, even when the High Court ruling was unanimous.“Yes, it’s rarely, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. I think may pag-asa ‘yung motion for reconsideration. Kasi marami ang nagsabi, including legal luminaries, including mga retired justices and chief justices of the Supreme Court na mukhang may pgakakamali, lalu na doon sa factual conclusions,” De Lima said.Akbayan Party List Rep. Chel Diokno asserted that the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte did not violate the constitutional provision prohibiting the filing of more than one impeachment complaint against the same official for a period of one year.He stressed that while the four complaints before the lower chamber were filed on different dates, all were included in the order of business for plenary consideration on the same day, and the House moved to initiate first the complaint signed by 215 congressmen, before archiving the three that did not get the required signature of at least one-third of House members.The Supreme Court in its decision said that since the three impeachment complaints, which were filed earlier than the fourth, were archived, they were “effectively terminated and dismissed”, triggering the one-year bar.“Isang magandang issue na mabalikan sana ng Supreme Court, ‘yung naging proseso ng pagka-agenda at pagka-archive ng mga complaints. Kasi kung titignan natin ‘yung records ng House, sa House Journal, on the same day na inilagay sa calendar of business ‘yung tatlong naunang impeachment complaints at ‘yung pang-apat na verified complaint na may pirma ng at least one-third ng members ng House,” Diokno said.“On the same day, session day, ay unang-una, there was a decision by the House to transmit the articles, the verified complaint to the Senate. Nauna ‘yun bago na-archive ‘yung tatlong complaints. Kaya kung titignan natin ‘yung proseso, hindi naman pwedeng sabihin na nauna na-archive ‘yung unang tatlong impeachment complaint, bago na-transmit ‘yung verified complaint. So kung ganoon ang nangyaring facts, paano magiging bar ‘yung unang tatlong complaint? …So that&#x27;s one factual issue perhaps that we hope the court can look into,” he explained.De Lima believes waiting for the one-year ban to lapse on February 6 could “weaken” the momentum for the complaint.“Kasi wala na ‘yung momentum, wala na ‘yung interest. Baka mapunta na ‘yung interest ng taumbayan sa ibang equally important matters or issues,” she said.De Lima and Diokno warned of a possible constitutional crisis if the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, pushes through with the trial, despite the high court ruling.“’Yung ganyang scenario kasi, it will court constitutional crisis, kasi clash na ‘yan ng 2 co-equal branches of government… the more prudent would be antayin muna ang resulta ng motion for reconsideration kapag finile na,” De Lima said.“Ang nakikita kong malaking problema sa naging desisyon ng Supreme Court ay andyan na yung impeachment court. Nag-convene na po ang impeachment court. Ang nakalagay sa ating siligan batas ay once the impeachment court has convened, it has the sole power to try and decide impeachment cases. So ngayon, may dalawang kailangan balansehin ‘yung power. ‘Yung power ng Supreme Court to check grave abuse of discretion na talaga naman nasa kanilang kapangyarihan ‘yun. At ‘yung power ng impeachment court once na nag-convene na sila lang ang may kapangyarihan mag-desisyon sa mga impeachment cases,” Diokno said.“’Yan ang isang maaring maging sitwasyon where we will be at a standoff if the Senate will decide to proceed despite the Supreme Court decision, that will really give rise to a constitutional issue,” he added.House Speaker Martin Romualdez asserted on Monday that while the House recognizes the SC decision, the power to initiate impeachment is the “exclusive domain” of the lower chamber.<div> </div><div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eKf5wWstGnc??si=zrlV4CRrB-tsOydp&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>

A House impeachment prosecutor hopes the Supreme Court will be “enlightened” by a motion to be filed by the lower chamber seeking reconsideration on its decision to nullify and declare unconstitutional the House impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.

A House impeachment prosecutor hopes the Supreme Court will be “enlightened” by a motion to be filed by the lower chamber seeking reconsideration on its decision to nullify and declare unconstitutional the House impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.

House impeachment prosecutor hopes SC will be 'enlightened' by motion for reconsideration

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House impeachment prosecutor hopes SC will be 'enlightened' by motion for reconsideration

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 29, 2025 12:28 AM PHT

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