Jamaine Punzalan

Members of the Senate of the Philippines, led by Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero convene as an impeachment court to try the case of Vice President Sara Duterte, June 10, 2025. Joseph B. Vidal, OSP/Voltaire F. Domingo, Senate Social Media Unit

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PH SENATE- VP Sara IMPEACHMENT CASE

RG Cruz

Victoria Tulad

Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/175376994614820250611-senate-vp-sara-impeachment-SPRIB1.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Members of the Senate of the Philippines, led by Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero convene as an impeachment court to try the case of Vice President Sara Duterte, June 10, 2025. Joseph B. Vidal, OSP/Voltaire F. Domingo, Senate Social Media Unit </span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Senate President Francis Escudero said Tuesday he believed the Senate need not convene as an impeachment court again to vote on the Supreme Court ruling which voided the impeachment articles against Vice President Sara Duterte.</p><p>&quot;If the Senate will act on it, the Senate should act on it as a Senate in plenary,&quot; Escudero said. </p><p>He noted that the Supreme Court ruled that the Senate had no jurisdiction over the case, which violated a constitutional provision against multiple impeachment proceedings within a single year. </p><p>Escudero said the Senate should heed the Supreme Court ruling or risk a constitutional crisis.</p><p>&quot;Personally, ang posisyon ko ay bilang abogado ay ito, nagdesisyon ng Korte Suprema. Sang-ayon ka man doon o hindi, dapat ito isundin. Kung hindi, makakaroon tayo ng constitutional crisis at baka tingnan tayo ng mga karatig-bansa natin at ibang tao na isang banana republic kung saan sinusunod lamang natin yung mga gusto natin,&quot; he said. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/7/25/supreme-court-duterte-impeachment-articles-unconstitutional-1601">Supreme Court blocks VP Sara Duterte&#x27;s impeachment trial</a></div><p>He said the Senate plenary would decide soon on the issue, following reports that the Supreme Court ruling could still be appealed even if it is immediately executory.</p><p>&quot;Yes, there is that procedure (appeal)...And yet, they (Supreme Court) wrote ‘immediately executory,’” Escudero said. “That will now be decided upon by the Senate. Hopefully in plenary in the coming days.” </p><p>&quot;In the next couple of days, perhaps. Hindi na rin naman rason para patagalin pa yun. One way or the other, we have to decide on it. And we will decide on it through a vote.”  </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/7/26/sc-ruling-on-vp-sara-impeachment-lets-officials-skirt-accountability-activist-groups-1111">SC ruling on VP Sara impeachment lets officials skirt accountability — activist groups</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>HOUSE SAYS TRIAL ‘UP TO SENATE’ </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Meanwhile, the House of Representatives said it was leaving with the Senate the decision on whether to push through with the impeachment trial. </p><p>But House of Representatives spokesperson Princess Abante asserted that the SC decision was based on “erroneous facts”, which she hoped would be reversed after the chamber files its motion for reconsideration.</p><p>“It is up to the Senate to perform their duties as mandated by the Constitution,” Abante said.</p><p>“Naniniwala kami na tama at ayon sa batas ang aming naging actions sa impeachment complaint. Kaya nga mag-file pa po kami ng motion for reconsideration and hopefully, ‘pag… napaliwanag nang husto ‘yung mga erroneous facts na pinagbasehan ng Supreme Court sa kanilang desisyon… we are hopeful na maaari pa po mabago ang desisyon ng Supreme Court,” she added.</p><p>The Supreme Court in its decision said that since the three impeachment complaints, which were filed earlier than the fourth, were “effectively terminated and dismissed”, triggering the one-year bar.</p><p>But all four were included in the order of business for plenary consideration on the same day, and Abante said the House acted on the fourth complaint, before it archived the first three.</p><p>“Mali ‘yung pag-rely nila na naaksyunan ang first three complaints after the fourth complaint. Ang position po ng House of Representatives that we abided sa alituntunin ng Constitution, ng rules ng House, at ng prevailing jurisprudence at the time that the House acted on the impeachment complaints. It did not violate the one-year ban for impeachment proceedings, because only one complaint was initiated, only the fourth complaint,” Abante said.</p><p>The House has until August 11 to file a motion for reconsideration, according to Abante.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>‘ATTEMPT TO SILENCE TRUTH’  </strong></div><div><br/></div><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:560px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1950048131715875042&amp;lang=en&amp;maxWidth=560px&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2025-07-29T07%3A04%3A35.499940%3Ac3d6a3f7-aed4-445f-831e-02c0fe3e7819%26action%3Dedit&amp;sessionId=b74188c2d4ffac93e2a1f4aea7f1942362747561&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:511px;height:288px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="1950048131715875042"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><p>Meanwhile, various groups trooped to the Senate to urge senators to continue with Duterte’s impeachment trial, saying the legislature has the sole power to try and decide impeachment cases. </p><p>Francis “Kiko” Aquino Dee, co-convenor of Tindig Pilipinas and one of the complainants in the first impeachment case, said complainants like them are at a disadvantage with the Supreme Court decision declaring the articles of impeachment unconstitutional.</p><p>“Kami yung lugi eh… impeachment complaint namin yung hindi pinakinggan,” Dee told ABS-CBN News. </p><p>“Ang balita po natin may ilang senador po na ang posisyon nila na puwedeng ituloy pa rin po yung impeachment complaint dahil nga po yung impeachment sole power po siya ng legislature. Yung Senado po may sole power na mag-try ng impeachment cases. So kung yun po ang pinapanigan ng ating mga senador, sumasang-ayon po tayo doon kasi sa puno’t dulo po ng lahat napaka-urgent po ng kaso na ito,” he added.  </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/7/28/hontiveros-aquino-pangilinan-urge-sc-to-reconsider-decision-blocking-vp-duterte-s-impeachment-1541">Hontiveros, Aquino, Pangilinan urge SC to reconsider decision blocking VP Duterte&#x27;s impeachment trial</a></div><p>Dee is of the belief that there will be no constitutional crisis since there is already a precedent when the Senate did not follow the SC when it issued a temporary restraining order in the case of former Chief Justice Renato Corona. </p><p>Tindig Pilipinas supports a <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/7/27/house-to-seek-reversal-of-sc-ruling-on-vp-sara-impeachment-1336">motion for reconsideration that the House of Representatives said it would file.</a></p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/7/27/house-to-seek-reversal-of-sc-ruling-on-vp-sara-impeachment-1336">House to seek reversal of SC ruling on VP Sara impeachment</a> </div><p>The group had filed a motion to intervene at the Supreme Court hours before it came out with a ruling on the articles of impeachment last Friday. The said motion had sought to dismiss Duterte’s petition that challenged the impeachment complaint against her.    </p><p>In a statement, Akbayan President Rafaela David said, “Any attempt to dismiss the impeachment complaint against VP Sara is an attempt to silence the truth.” </p><p>“Our senators must not be complicit in the Dutertes’ scheme to rob the people of justice. May they find the moral courage to stand behind the people and defend the constitution.”</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/7/26/lacson-senate-may-vote-on-proceeding-with-sara-duterte-s-impeachment-trial-2314">Lacson: Senate may vote on proceeding with Sara Duterte&#x27;s impeachment trial</a></div><p>Escudero reminded critics that impeachment is not the only way to exact accountability.</p><p>&quot;Hindi lamang impeachment ang mode of accountability para sa mga opisyal. Investigation ng Senado, investigation ng Kongreso, kaso sa Ombudsman, lahat ito ay mga avenue para mag-exact na accountability para sa mga opisyal,” the Senate President said.</p><p>“Tandaan nyo sa ilalim ng Saligang Batas, Pangulo lamang ang immune from suit. Hindi immune from suit ang ikalawang Pangulo o iba pang impeachable officers. So hindi nila maaaring sabihin walang ibang avenue,” he added. </p><p>He acknowledged that his personal position might not necessarily be the same as the collegial decision of the body.</p><p>&quot;Hindi porket tagapangulo ako ng Senado, kamay ko lamang ang nagdadala ng tyempo at magdidikta ng direksyon ng Senado. We are a collective body and we will be deciding upon these matters collectively also…after deliberation and via a vote,” he said. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/7/28/sandro-marcos-to-follow-palace-cue-on-another-impeach-case-vs-sara-duterte-1549">Sandro Marcos to follow Palace cue on another impeach case vs Sara Duterte</a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/7/24/escudero-azcuna-no-overreach-in-sc-review-of-sara-duterte-impeachment-2302">Escudero, Azcuna: No overreach in SC review of Sara Duterte impeachment</a></div>

<p>Senate President Francis Escudero believes the Senate need not convene as an impeachment court again to vote on the Supreme Court ruling which voided the impeachment articles against Vice President Sara Duterte.</p>

Senate President Francis Escudero believes the Senate need not convene as an impeachment court again to vote on the Supreme Court ruling which voided the impeachment articles against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Escudero says no need to convene Senate impeachment court again after Supreme Court ruling on Duterte case

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Escudero says no need to convene Senate impeachment court again after Supreme Court ruling on Duterte case

RG Cruz,

Victoria Tulad,

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 29, 2025 02:28 PM PHT

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Updated Jul 31, 2025 06:12 PM PHT

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