A fresh legal challenge landed before the Supreme Court on Monday, with three lawyers seeking to stop the House Committee on Justice from continuing its hearings on the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte.
The petition for certiorari and prohibition, dated April 20, 2026, was filed by Hue Jyro Go, Micah Lorelle De Guzman, and Jake Leoncini. It targets committee chairperson Gerville Luistro and House Speaker Faustino Dy III, asking the high court to issue either a temporary restraining order or a writ of preliminary injunction against both officials.
At the heart of the petition is the argument that Luistro and Dy have overstepped their constitutional and procedural authority — and that the damage being done is irreversible. The lawyers contend that the committee has effectively transformed what should be a threshold evaluation into something far broader.
“The power to initiate is not the power to investigate without limit, to search for offenses not sufficiently pleaded, or to compel evidence in order to cure defects in a complaint that should have stood or fallen on its face,” the petitioners said.
Among the specific concerns raised is the committee’s issuance of subpoenas compelling the submission of personal and financial records, including Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth. The petitioners argue this crosses a constitutional line.
“In the present case, the continuing acts of respondents — particularly the issuance and implementation of subpoenas, compulsory processes, and evidentiary directives — are not mere procedural incidents but affirmative acts that irreversibly alter the character of impeachment proceedings from a constitutionally limited threshold evaluation into an unauthorized investigative and quasi-inquisitorial process,” the petition states.
Beyond the request for injunctive relief, the lawyers are also asking the high court to nullify the committee’s rulings, directives, and proceedings to date — including its findings that the two impeachment complaints were sufficient in form and substance.
The filing is the fourth petition brought before the Supreme Court over the Duterte impeachment proceedings, joining one filed by the Vice President herself.
