MANILA – The Supreme Court (SC) has declared the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio as unconstitutional, spokesperson Atty. Camille Ting announced on Friday.
“The SC has ruled that the House impeachment complaint versus VP Sara Duterte is barred by the one-year rule and that due process or fairness applies in all stages of the impeachment process,” Ting said.
The SC’s verdict is in relation to the consolidated petition filed by Duterte-Carpio, lawyer Israelito Torreon, and others seeking to declare the articles of impeachment against her as null and void.
On February 5, the House of Representatives impeached Duterte, with more than 200 lawmakers supporting the complaint. The articles of impeachment were sent to the Senate on the same day; however, the upper chamber adjourned without addressing the impeachment case.
Initially, three impeachment complaints were lodged by different groups and supported by various lawmakers against the Vice President, primarily alleging betrayal of public trust due to the purported misuse of over P612 million in confidential funds.
These impeachment complaints were submitted following an inquiry by the House on good governance and public accountability, which revealed that, according to the submissions from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education during Vice President Duterte’s term as Education chief to the Commission on Audit, the OVP and DepEd liquidated P612 million in confidential funds received from 2022 to 2023 with acknowledgment receipts that contained incorrect dates, signatories lacking birth records, unnamed signatures, and illegible signatories, among other issues.
However, these three complaints were not forwarded by House Secretary General Reginald Velasco to the Office of the Speaker, Leyte’s Cong. Martin Romualdez, which is a necessary step for the complaint to be scheduled for deliberation at the House Committee on Justice level.
A fourth impeachment complaint was filed in February and has garnered support from over 200 lawmakers, significantly exceeding the one-third threshold of all House members required for the complaint to be sent directly to the Senate for trial, as outlined in the 1987 Constitution.
The fourth impeachment complaint accused the Vice President of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and other serious crimes, primarily concerning the alleged misuse of confidential funds and threats to kill President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., and his wife Liza and the President’s cousin and Speaker Romualdez.
In a statement, the House said it respects the decision of the High Court, but said that it won’t stop them from holding Duterte-Carpio accountable.
“Ang desisyon ng Korte Suprema ay igagalang — ngunit kailanman ay hindi ito magiging dahilan upang kami’y tumigil sa pagtupad ng aming tungkulin,” said House spokesperson Atty. Princess Abante.
“The House will exhaust all remedies to protect the independence of Congress and preserve the sanctity of our constitutional role. This is not defiance. This is constitutional fidelity,” she added.
Duterte-Carpio, on the other hand, welcomed the SC ruling, which she said affirmed “what we had maintained from the outset – that the 4th impeachment complaint is constitutionally infirm.”
“This unanimous Decision has once again upheld the rule of law and reinforced the constitutional limits against abuse of the impeachment process,” the Vice President said in a statement sent to Panay News. “We remain prepared to address the allegations at the proper time and before the appropriate forum.”/PN