President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday clarified that the Supreme Court’s (SC) decision to strike down the impeachment articles against Vice President Sara Duterte was based solely on procedural grounds, not on the merits of the case.
Marcos emphasized that the High Court did not make any judgment on whether the impeachment allegations were valid or not.
“We have to make very, very clear to everyone that the Supreme Court decision does not have any bearing on the rightness or wrongness of the merits of the impeachment case. They’re not saying that there was no wrongdoing,” Marcos said. “Neither are they saying there was wrongdoing. All they’re saying is you did not handle it properly. That’s it.”
The President, who ran alongside Duterte in the 2022 elections, reiterated his neutrality in the matter, stressing that he holds no influence over the impeachment process.
“I keep telling you, the Executive has no role in this. The President has no role. I’m an impeachable officer. I cannot involve myself in any of this,” he noted, underscoring the independence of the House, Senate, and Supreme Court in handling such proceedings.
Earlier this week, the Senate voted to archive the impeachment articles, following the SC’s decision that they were unconstitutional. The ruling cited the one-year bar rule under Article XI, Section 3(5) of the Constitution, and also flagged violations of Duterte’s right to due process.
Vice President Duterte, in response, called for respect for the Senate’s move to archive the case.
