VP Duterte impeachment faces delay as Senate remands case to House
Benedict Maravilla
After just hours of officially convening as an impeachment court for the trial of Vice President Duterte on June 10, the Senate decided to return the articles of impeachment to the House of Representatives, setting the proceedings to be delayed.
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Photos Courtesy of Senate of the Philippines/AP. |
The motion to remand the impeachment case was proposed by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who amended Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s proposal to fully dismiss the impeachment, garnering 18 affirmative votes and five negative votes.
The five senators who voted against the motion were Koko Pimentel, Risa Hontiveros, Grace Poe, Nancy Binay, and Sherwin Gatchalian.
Senators Cayetano, dela Rosa, Bong Revilla, Imee Marcos, JV Ejercito, Bong Go, Loren Legarda, Robinhood Padilla, Jinggoy Estrada, Francis Tolentino, Joel Villanueva, Pia Cayetano, Lito Lapid, Cynthia Villar, Mark Villar, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Raffy Tulfo, and Chiz Escudero were the ones who voted in favor of the motion.
The motion stated that the remanding of articles does not mean the dismissal or the final judgment of the case.
In his speech, Cayetano said he initiated the remanding to confirm with the House whether there were no violations of the one-year bar rule and the validity of the impeachment case.
“Why will remanding be in the interest of justice and consistent with our oath of political neutrality? Kasi ang mangyayari nito, hindi pa binabasa ’yung articles of impeachment bukas, babalik ito sa House of Representatives. Hihingin natin ngayon na ise-certify nila na hindi nila viniolate ’yung one impeachment per year,” he said.
Cayetano, in an ambush interview with reporters, also assured that the motion is only due for four days and will not delay the proceedings of the impeachment case.
Dela Rosa’s motion
The motion that Cayetano amended from dela Rosa sought the dismissal of the case against Duterte.
This move eventually prompted Senate President Chiz Escudero to rule on convening the Senate as an impeachment court.
Dela Rosa's motion pushed for the said cause as he said that the House intentionally did not act upon the first three impeachment complaints that were filed against Duterte in 2024; the fourth complaint to be filed in 2025 was the one transmitted to the Senate on Feb. 5.
He said that the inaction of the House members allowed them to circumvent the Constitution.
"The intentional inaction of the House of Representatives allowed its members to purportedly circumvent the one-year ban enshrined in Article XI, Section 3, paragraph 5 of the Constitution," he said.
Dela Rosa backed his statement by citing the interviews conducted with the House Secretary General Reginald Velasco, who claimed that most of the House members asked the latter to withhold the transmittal of the complaints to the speaker.
"Their goal then was to give themselves more time to decide whether or not to file another impeachment complaint. Pinaghintay po ng mayorya ng House of Representatives ang tatlong impeachment complaints. May ganyan po ba silang kapangyarihan? Hindi ba ito ay matatawag na grave abuse of discretion?” dela Rosa said.
The senator said that had the House complied with its rules, the three past complaints would have been referred to the appropriate committee by the time the fourth impeachment complaint was filed.
"Given the glaring circumvention of the Constitution, should we allow impeachment complaints which are Constitutionally infirm to be heard and tried by this body?" dela Rosa expressed.
Opposition to the remand
Lawmakers and progressive groups have expressed dismay towards returning the articles of impeachment to the House, marking the motion as unconstitutional.
In an interview with ANC News, House Prosecutor Lorenz Defensor said that the impeachment case should not have been returned to the House, as it is illegal and unconstitutional.
“Sigurado akong dapat tumawid ito, itong impeachment complaint na ito, lalo’t hindi naman nadismiss (ang kaso). However, to remand is illegal and unconstitutional," Defensor said.
He explained that the House has the power to choose the best impeachment complaint that can be endorsed to the Senate, citing the reason why the fourth complaint was the one to be endorsed by more than 200 congressmen.
Meanwhile, in a statement released on June 10, congressmen from the Makabayan bloc also condemned the Senate impeachment court's "unprecedented and unconstitutional decision," downplaying the power of impeachment to exact accountability from government officials.
"The Senate's action is not only legally baseless but also a clear abdication of its constitutional duty to try impeachment cases," the statement read.
Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Representative France Castro of the Makabayan bloc said that the articles of impeachment should not be returned to the House as they have already fulfilled their part in the impeachment proceedings.
"Ang ginawa ng Senado ay walang kapantay na paglabag sa ating Saligang Batas. Hindi pwedeng ibalik sa Kamara ang mga artikulo ng impeachment dahil tapos na ang papel namin dito. Ang responsibilidad ng Senado ay husgahan ang kaso, hindi ibalik ito,” Castro said.
Gabriela Women's Partylist Representative Arlene Brosas, also a member of Makabayan, criticized the action taken by the Senate, saying that it is an institutional manipulation to protect the accused.
"We view this action as part of a broader pattern of institutional manipulation designed to protect those in power from accountability," Brosas said.
Senator Risa Hontiveros, in an interview with reporters on June 11, also expressed her disappointment, saying there seemed to be a manipulation within the Senate.
“Parang may gaslighting na nangyari. ‘Di kaya gumamit ng iba't ibang mga salita para malito tayo? But kung ano pa man, tuloy ang laban para sa hustisya,” Hontiveros said.
The senator also believes that the remand of the articles was planned out.
“Lumalabas na may ganoong plano whether how long ago it was or how recently it was, nag-materialize doon sa proposed motion nila,” Hontiveros said.
The presentation of the articles of impeachment that was supposed to be conducted on June 11 has been canceled indefinitely.