MANILA — The Supreme Court has permanently rejected the House of Representatives’ attempt to revive the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, effectively closing the door on the proceedings filed against her last year.
Court spokesperson Atty. Camille Ting announced Thursday that the high tribunal, sitting en banc, unanimously denied the motion for reconsideration filed by the House.
“By a unanimous vote of all those participating, the SC En Banc denied with finality the motion for reconsideration filed by the House which sought to reverse the decision… that declared the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte as unconstitutional,” Ting said during a press briefing.
The ruling affirms the Court’s July 2025 decision that voided the impeachment articles for violating the one-year ban under Article XI, Section 3(5) of the 1987 Constitution.
The provision bars the filing of more than one impeachment case against the same official within a one-year period.
Three separate impeachment complaints were lodged against Duterte-Carpio in December 2024, all linked to alleged misuse of confidential funds.
These were followed by a fourth complaint that gained the endorsement of more than one-third of the members of the House of Representatives and was later transmitted to the Senate as formal Articles of Impeachment.
The House argued in its motion that the one-year prohibition should not apply, claiming that the earlier complaints were only archived after the fourth complaint had already been sent to the Senate. The lawmakers maintained that this sequence meant the constitutional ban was not triggered.
The Supreme Court, however, stood by its original ruling, saying the one-year rule had already taken effect because multiple complaints had been filed within the same period.
With the denial of the motion for reconsideration, the decision is now final and executory, ending all pending efforts to pursue the impeachment of the Vice President./PN
