MANILA – Malacañang has made it clear that the fate of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s impeachment case is now in the hands of the Supreme Court (SC), which it called the “final arbiter” of the law.
Presidential Communications Office’s Undersecretary Claire Castro said the Palace will abide by whatever ruling the High Court issues on the pending motion for reconsideration, which seeks to reverse its earlier decision striking down the impeachment case against Duterte-Carpio as unconstitutional.
“Noon pa natin sinagot ito. Kung anuman ang magiging desisyon ng Supreme Court, ‘yan ay igagalang ng Pangulo, ng Ehekutibo. Bakit? Because the Supreme Court is the final arbiter of any legal issues,” Castro said.
“So, since meron pang motion for reconsideration, tingnan na lang natin kung ano magiging pasya rito ng Supreme Court,” she added.
The impeachment process was halted after the Senate, on Wednesday last week, adopted Sen. Rodante Marcoleta’s motion to “adhere to the immediately executory decision” of the SC.
The July 25 ruling, reached unanimously, declared that the Senate had no jurisdiction to proceed, citing the Constitution’s one-year bar on repeat impeachment filings and due process violations under the Bill of Rights.
Castro stressed that neither President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. nor Malacañang has played any role in the impeachment effort.
“Well, unang-una siguro dapat mapaaalala sa ating bise presidente na hindi ang administrasyon ni Marcos Jr., hindi ang ehekutibo ang nagsampa or nag-submit ng articles of impeachment kundi ang House of Representatives,” she said.
“So, noon pa sinasabi natin na ang Pangulo, ang ehekutibo ay hindi mangingialam sa trabaho ng House of Representatives saka ng Senado,” she added./PN
