A group of priests and lawyers has joined the call for the Supreme Court (SC) to overturn its decision stopping the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte — becoming the fifth set of petitioners to do so.
In a 75-page motion for reconsideration-in-intervention, the group urged the High Court to reverse its July 25, 2025 ruling, which declared that the Articles of Impeachment were barred by the Constitution’s one-year rule and violated Duterte’s right to due process.
“The Constitution is supposed to protect the State from the highest of public officials like the vice president. It should not be the other way around,” said their counsel, Amando Ligutan. “The law and the Constitution should not be used to protect the vice president from the people of the Philippines.”
Three impeachment complaints were lodged against Duterte in December 2024, all tied to the alleged misuse of confidential funds. The fourth complaint — endorsed by over one-third of House members — was transmitted to the Senate as Articles of Impeachment.
The SC ruled that the earlier three complaints were considered terminated when the fourth was endorsed, triggering the one-year ban from that point. But petitioners behind the third complaint, including priests from the Diocese of Novaliches, members of SUGOD Rosary Group, the Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao, and SELDA Greater Davao, argued that the House did not commit inaction and that due process rules do not apply at the initiation stage of impeachment.
They also claimed the SC intruded on Congress’ exclusive authority to evaluate evidence in impeachment cases, likening the four complaints to “four matchsticks” but stressing that “only one of them lit the candle.”
Ligutan emphasized they accept the House’s decision to archive their complaint, noting that the final version endorsed was “the strongest and the best possible” — strengthened by earlier complaints.
This latest filing adds to four other pending motions from the House of Representatives, 1Sambayan, the complainants in the first impeachment complaint, and Makabayan bloc lawmakers.
