Vice President Sara Duterte has brought her fight against the ongoing impeachment proceedings to the Supreme Court, filing a petition that seeks to immediately halt the House justice panel’s hearings and have key portions of the chamber’s impeachment rules struck down as unconstitutional.
In a 58-page petition for certiorari dated March 30, Duterte asked the High Court to issue a temporary restraining order against the House of Representatives and its justice committee, and to follow it with a writ of preliminary injunction that would freeze all related proceedings — including what she described as any “mini-trial,” preliminary investigation, or enforcement of compulsory processes.
“There is a reason why impeachment is the road less travelled – it is often the wrong road. No less than the Constitution reserves this sui generis process to the vilest and most treasonous of grounds committed by an exclusive list of impeachable government officials,” the petition read.
Duterte named Speaker Faustino Dy III, justice committee chair Rep. Gerville Reyes-Luistro, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, and the 14 individuals who filed the two impeachment complaints against her as respondents.
At the heart of her legal challenge is the argument that the justice panel has been conducting what is effectively a trial — a power she says belongs exclusively to the Senate sitting as an impeachment court.
“It is evident that the proceedings before the respondent committee are, in truth and substance, a trial in disguise. Its members’ use of various nomenclatures such as ‘mini-trial,’ ‘hearing proper’ or a ‘process akin to a preliminary investigation’ does not change its true nature,” the petition stated.
She further argued that by proceeding with a so-called mini-trial, the panel was either acknowledging that its earlier finding on the sufficiency of the Saballa and Cabrera complaints was flawed, or conducting a fishing expedition to prop up what she called “sorely inadequate” charges.
Duterte also contested the validity of how the complaints reached the justice committee, arguing there was no proper referral by the House in plenary and no prior deliberation. She additionally invoked the one-year bar rule, saying it was violated in initiating the proceedings against her.
On the substance of the charges — which cover alleged misuse of confidential funds, non-declaration of assets, abuse of power, and threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — the petition argued these fall well short of the constitutional standard for impeachable offenses.
“In truth, the accusations themselves are built not on established facts, but on mere conclusions, assumptions, speculations, and a fundamentally flawed interpretation of the law,” the petition said, adding that no final ruling has declared the questioned disbursements illegal or irregular.
The Vice President also asked the Court to declare void Sections 7 and 8 of the 19th Congress’ Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings, along with the justice panel’s own procedural guidelines.
House public accounts committee chair Rep. Terry Ridon, a member of the justice panel, pushed back sharply, calling the petition “anchored on a misrepresentation of facts and a distorted interpretation of the Constitution and prevailing jurisprudence.”
Ridon cited video footage of the February 23 plenary session showing the referral of the four impeachment complaints was made by the full House — not just the Speaker or the Committee on Rules — at 3:48 p.m., and that no member, including Duterte’s own allies, raised any objection at the time.
He also rejected the claim that prior deliberation was required before referral. “There is no provision in the 1987 Constitution, the House Rules on Impeachment, or Gutierrez v. House of Representatives that mandates deliberation prior to referral,” Ridon said.
On the one-year bar rule, Ridon maintained only one valid referral of the complaints was made, meaning the rule had not been triggered. He also defended the panel’s authority to conduct hearings and issue subpoenas, citing the Constitution, House rules, and the Supreme Court’s own ruling in Duterte v. House.
Ridon said documents from the Ombudsman, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and the Securities and Exchange Commission are set to be presented on April 14, along with testimony from witness Ramil Madriaga.
“We are now in the middle of a constitutional process of accountability. We will continue the proceedings until the very end. Enough of the deception. Enough of the falsehoods. It is time to face the truth,” Ridon said.
