House appeals SC decision voiding VP Sara Duterte's impeachment complaint
The House of Representatives on Monday, Aug. 4, has appealed to the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision declaring the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte unconstitutional.
In a statement, House Speaker Martin Romualdez said that they filed a motion for reconsideration with the SC as an "act of duty."
"We do not challenge the authority of the Court. We seek only to preserve the rightful role of the House. The voice of the people in the process of accountability," he said.
According to Romualdez, the Constitution gives the House the exclusive and unconditional power to initiate all impeachment cases, without needing "pre-approval."
"Yet, in GR No. 278353, the Supreme Court ruled otherwise, based on a misreading of facts and a retroactive imposition of the new rules," Romualdez said.
He recounted that on Feb. 5, the fourth impeachment complaint, filed and signed by 215 House members, was submitted to the Senate, adding that the three earlier complaints against Duterte had been archived.
"The sequence matters. It proves there was only one valid initiation, not four," he asserted. "Even the Court’s own precedent—Francisco v. House—supports this: Only one impeachment can be initiated, and that initiation begins with a one-third endorsement or a referral. That is exactly what the House did," Romualdez said.
"The Court also said the Vice President was denied due process because she was not furnished a copy or given a chance to respond. But nowhere in the Constitution is that required before transmittal. In fact, in all past impeachments, the trial and the right to be heard take place in the Senate," he added.
He called the retroactive application of new rules "unfair" and "constitutionally suspect."
"A government of laws cannot allow any branch to become the judge of its own accountability. The Supreme Court is a co-equal branch of government. Its wisdom is deep, its authority is real. But its members, like the President and the Vice President, are also impeachable officers," Romualdez said.
"When the Court lays down rules for how it or others like it may be impeached, it puts itself in a dangerous position of writing conditions that may shield itself from future accountability. That is not how checks and balances work," he continued.
The politician reiterated that they are filing the appeal "not to assert supremacy, but to restore balances."
"If impeachments can be blocked by misunderstood facts or rules made after the fact, then accountability is not upheld; it is denied," he emphasized.
"To dissent is not to defy. To demand accountability is not to destabilize. To insist on constitutional integrity is not to weaken democracy, it is to strengthen it. We speak now not because it is easy, but because it is necessary. The House will not bow in silence," he ended.
In its ruling, the SC claimed that the impeachment complaint was transmitted to the Senate without a plenary vote. They also said that the fourth impeachment complaint is barred by the one-year rule in the Constitution because there were three complaints that came ahead of it.
Despite this, the court said it is not absolving Duterte of the charges.
Duterte is accused of misusing public funds, amassing unusual wealth, and threatening to kill President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., the First Lady, and the House Speaker.
