VP Duterte files petition seeking to void 4th impeachment complaint

National

VICE President Sara Duterte has filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition to nullify the impeachment case before the Supreme Court (SC).

Filed on Tuesday, February 18, the petition requested a temporary restraining order against the Senate from acting upon the fourth impeachment complaint by the House of Representatives (HOR).

Duterte contended that the impeachment complaint was in violation of the Article XI, Section 3(5) of the Constitution which states that “no impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year (One-Year Bar)”.

She inferred that the reason for awaiting the fourth impeachment complaint was to “allow the House of Representatives and its members to gather the required number of signatures to railroad the impeachment process, in order to beat the May 12, 2025 elections”.

“This political stratagem was done at the expense of constitutional standards … with the ultimate goal of having the petitioner perpetually disqualified from running for any national elective office,” Duterte said in the petition per a Philippine Star report.

The Vice President also accused House Secretary General Reginald Velasco of abusing his discretion by delaying the first three complaints to circumvent the one-year bar provision.

According to the petition, Velasco admitted in media interviews that some lawmakers asked him to delay forwarding the initial three impeachment complaints to House Speaker Martin Romualdez to allow more time to either endorse, consolidate, or file a fourth impeachment complaint.

The petition was signed by five lawyers including the Vice President’s father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

The HOR previously filed three impeachment complaints last December against the Vice President in connection with alleged misuse of confidential funds.

The House impeached the Vice President on February 5 after 215 lawmakers endorsed a fourth impeachment complaint to the Senate for trial.(Johanna Sumalinog, USJ-R Intern)