Rowegie Abanto

The Senate of the Philippines opens its first regular session of the 20th Congress on July 28, 2025. Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate Social Media Unit

The Senate of the Philippines opens its first regular session of the 20th Congress on July 28, 2025.  Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate Social Media Unit

Article (news)

Senators urged to wait SC resolution on motions vs VP Duterte ruling

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/175436273420220250728-senate-20th-congress-VD1.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false" style="text-align:left">The Senate of the Philippines opens its first regular session of the 20th Congress on July 28, 2025. <em>Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate Social Media Unit</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Senators should wait for the Supreme Court to resolve with finality the impeachment case of Vice President Sara Duterte before they vote whether or not to dismiss the complaint, a lawmaker and a constitutional law professor said Tuesday.</p><p>The Supreme Court in late July <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/7/25/supreme-court-duterte-impeachment-articles-unconstitutional-1601">declared that the impeachment case against Duterte was invalid from the beginning</a> because it violated the constitutional prohibition that bans the filing of multiple complaints in a year.</p><p>The high court also ruled that a new impeachment complaint against the Vice President could only be filed in February 2026.</p><p>Legal experts, constitutional law professors, and several groups, however, argued that the Supreme Court could not retroactively apply its fresh impeachment rules to the ongoing case of Duterte.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/1/congress-constitutional-authority-over-impeachment-should-be-respected-up-law-faculty-1535">Congress&#x27; constitutional authority over impeachment should be respected: UP Law faculty</a></div><p>Some of them also feared that the new impeachment procedures would weaken the accountability mechanism of the impeachment because of tighter requirements they said were not in the Constitution.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;BAKIT TAYO NAGMAMADALI&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Sen. Bam Aquino, speaking on ANC, said that senators would tackle the impeachment case of Duterte on Wednesday, August 6, and would decide whether to dismiss the complaint outright or not.</p><p>The vote would come even as motions for reconsideration — <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/4/house-appeals-supreme-court-ruling-on-sara-duterte-impeachment-1610">including one from the House of Representatives, through the Office of the Solicitor General</a> — questioning the ruling had already been filed before the Supreme Court.</p><p>&quot;Mahalaga rin yung argumento na bakit tayo nagmamadali, meron pa namang motion for reconsideration yung House of Representatives. Bakit hindi natin hintayin kung ano yung magiging desisyon ng Supreme Court?&quot; he said.</p><p>(The argument about why we are rushing is also important. The House of Representatives still has a motion for reconsideration. Why don&#x27;t we wait for the Supreme Court&#x27;s decision first?)</p><p>Allies of Duterte had insisted that the SC ruling was &quot;immediately executory&quot; even if the other party has a right to appeal.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/4/bato-on-fellow-senators-push-for-vp-sara-impeach-trial-respect-the-sc-ruling-1529">Bato on fellow senators&#x27; push for VP Sara impeach trial: Respect the SC ruling</a></div><p>Aquino also stressed that the Senate should assert its independence and proceed with the convening of the Senate impeachment court.</p><p>&quot;Para sa akin nagsimula na kasi yung proseso… Yung panawagan ko sa iba kong kasama we should convene as an impeachment court and decide then what to do, whether to proceed or not to proceed. Mahalaga we do it on our own terms,&quot; he said.<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/7/29/escudero-no-need-to-convene-senate-impeachment-court-after-supreme-court-ruling-on-duterte-case-1428"> </a></p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/7/29/escudero-no-need-to-convene-senate-impeachment-court-after-supreme-court-ruling-on-duterte-case-1428">Escudero says no need to convene Senate impeachment court again after Supreme Court ruling on Duterte case</a></div><p>(For me, the process has already begun… My call to my fellow senators is that we should convene as an impeachment court and then decide what to do, whether to proceed or not. What&#x27;s important is that we do it on our own terms.)</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>LAW PROFESSOR&#x27;S VIEW</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Paolo Tamase, University of the Philippines College of Law assistant professor, told DZMM on Tuesday that if the Senate wanted to give the Supreme Court a chance to resolve its decision with finality, it would be better to take a &quot;more conservative&quot; approach by not dismissing the case just yet.</p><p>He said there were many things the senators could do in the meantime to allow the Supreme Court to clarify the issues.</p><p>Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada last week said that as many as 19 to 20 senators would vote to &quot;abide by&quot; the Supreme Court ruling throwing out the impeachment case.</p><p>On Monday, Sen. Ronald &quot;Bato&quot; dela Rosa urged his colleagues at the Senate to respect the ruling of the Supreme Court, saying in a statement that he would not sign any resolution seeking to push through with the impeachment trial of Duterte.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/7/26/vp-duterte-lawyers-on-wait-and-see-mode-after-sc-rules-impeachment-unconstitutional-0839">VP Duterte lawyers on ‘wait and see’ mode after SC rules impeachment unconstitutional</a></div><p>Saying he is not a lawyer, Dela Rosa noted that he knows how to respect and follow Supreme Court rulings.</p><div><strong>—With a report from RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News<br/></strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MrToET7HrlE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>A UP Law assistant professor said it would be better for the Senate to take a "more conservative" approach by not dismissing the impeachment case just yet.</p>

A UP Law assistant professor said it would be better for the Senate to take a "more conservative" approach by not dismissing the impeachment case just yet.

'Bakit tayo nagmamadali?' Senators urged to wait for SC to resolve motion on VP Duterte impeach ruling

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'Bakit tayo nagmamadali?' Senators urged to wait for SC to resolve motion on VP Duterte impeach ruling

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 05, 2025 11:40 AM PHT

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Updated August 05, 2025 01:33 PM PHT

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