Defers acceptance of impeach articles

The House prosecution team will defer accepting the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte remanded by the Senate as it will seek clarification first on the order of the Upper Chamber.

This as the House has adopted Resolution No. 2346, certifying that the impeachment proceedings initiated on February 5, 2025 against Duterte fully complied with the law, including the one-year bar provided under the Constitution.

Prosecutors likewise maintained the impeachment trial could not be stopped despite the remanding of the case.

They said they are ready to accept the remand order as long as it is “within the bounds of law,” adding that there is no need to seek guidance from Speaker Martin Romualdez at this point.

“No one can stop this anymore because jurisdiction has been acquired already by the impeachment court,” said Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, pointing to the Senate’s issuing of a summons for Duterte late Wednesday night.

“There will be no withdrawal (of the impeachment case) by the House. That is not allowed by the Constitution.”

The Senate as an impeachment court voted Tuesday evening to remand the complaint to the House amid concerns that it may have violated the one-year ban on impeachment proceedings.

The first three complaints were filed in 2024, while the fourth complaint, which was transmitted to the Senate, was filed in February 2025.

Luistro said they will be seeking clarification from the Senate impeachment court on three matters—on the certification that the House complied with the constitutional provision on the filing of the impeachment complaint, on whether the 20th Congress will pursue the case, and on a letter circulating on social media that the presentation of articles has been rendered moot.

Luistro, however said they are “certain and, in the face of the impeachment complaint, that we are fully and strictly compliant with the requirements of the Constitution.”

San Juan City Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora added the final impeachment complaint had “consolidated all the articles” of the first three into one.

“As soon as we are clarified about the issues surrounding the order of the Senate (Tuesday) night, for as long as they are within the bounds of the law, the prosecution panel will comply,” Luistro said.

Lead prosecutor and Minority Floor Leader Marcelino Libanan added: “The Speaker has not made any statement yet. I think there is no need for guidance from the Speaker because we (prosecutors) have been given the mandate by the plenary.”

Senate President Francis Escudero, for his part, said the House cannot ignore the order of the Upper Chamber to remand the impeachment complaint.

“This is not a bicameral conference where both sides need to agree. This is a court order directed at a party to the case. The House of Representatives will be out of line if they do not comply with the order of the impeachment court,” Escudero said.

Escudero said: “Those who do not agree are free to question this before the impeachment court or before the Supreme Court.”

“Only history, with the benefit of hindsight, can determine who was right or wrong,” he added.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, who voted against the motion to remand the case, warned the development could trigger a constitutional deadlock and undermine public trust.

“We’re not the PBA finals. We’re an impeachment court. Instead of moving forward, we went backward,” she said.

“There was no need to return it to the House… It’s very easy to do. It’s just a certification,” Hontiveros added.

At the Palace, Undersecretary Claire Castro said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is choosing to focus on governance and the needs of the Filipino people rather than engage in the ongoing political developments surrounding the Senate’s move to remand the impeachment case.

“The President is focused on working,” Castro said. “While some senators are occupied with procedural issues or defending the Vice President, the President is busy ensuring basic goods are affordable and that the daily struggles of Filipinos are eased.”

“The President is not part of the debate in the Senate…There’s no negative impact on him. The Filipino people will see for themselves who is following due process and who might be trying to manipulate it,” Castro added.

The Senate’s vote to remand was as much a matter of “political survival” as anything, former senator and incoming party-list representative Leila de Lima said.

“Loyalty, friendship, political survival. Maybe they are thinking the Dutertes are very much around even if the patriarch (ex-president Rodrigo Duterte) is in The Hague,” said De Lima, who has committed to join the panel of prosecutors in the 20th Congress.

Senator-elect Panfilo Lacson lamented it was the defense panel that should be the one to move to dismiss the impeachment case against the Vice President and not a senator-judge.

“I would like to believe that a motion to dismiss belongs to the defense panel. And where have you seen a judge moving to dismiss a case?” said Lacson, who had served as a senator-judge and may serve in the same capacity once the impeachment case crosses over to the 20th Congress.

Lacson said what made it worse was that Senator Ronald dela Rosa made his motion to dismiss the case even before the Senate convened into an impeachment court.

“I cannot imagine a judge presiding over a case being the one to move to dismiss it. Isn’t it funny to hear a judge moving to dismiss a case he himself is trying?”

“You are sitting as a senator judge, but you already have prejudgment. You haven’t seen the evidence yet, but you already formed a judgment and moved to dismiss the case,” Lacson added. With AFP