VP Sara Duterte seeks SC intervention to stop impeachment case
MANILA, Philippines — A petition has been filed by Vice President Sara Duterte before the Supreme Court to stop the impeachment proceedings against her before the lower chamber.
Duterte argued, in a 58-page petition for certiorari and prohibition, that the impeachment proceedings initiated against her are unconstitutional and should therefore be declared void ab initio.
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Her argument hinges on claims that the process conducted by the House of Representatives and the committee on justice is “marred by grave abuse of discretion,” beginning with the referral of her impeachment complaints to the committee on justice.
She pointed out that the House of Representatives failed to act as a collective body when referring the complaints, and was instead performed by Committee on Rules—a move she says violates Section 3(2), Article XI of the Constitution.
Duterte then claimed that two of the complaints against her—the Saballa and Cabrera complaints—violated the one-year ban rule under the 1987 Constitution.
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Furthermore, the vice president also accused the House committee on justice of encroaching on the power of the Senate, noting that the Committee chairperson openly described their proceedings as a “mini-trial.”
“…the proceedings conducted by respondent Committee on Justice remarkably show grave abuse of discretion and reek of double standards in the treatment of impeachment complaints referred to it, and evince a clear fishing expedition, resulting in the violation of petitioner’s constitutional rights to due process, presumption of innocence, and equal protection of the laws,” her petition read.
Duterte in her petition also claimed that there were “double standards” in how the House dealt with the impeachment complaints against her and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
READ: LIVE: VP Sara Duterte’s impeachment hearing on March 25
With this, Duterte asked the SC to issue a temporary restraining order, as well as a writ of preliminary injunction against the House of Representatives and the committee on justice from proceeding with the proceedings.
She also asked the SC to declare as void and unconstitutional rules Sections 7 and 8 of the Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings, which were adopted by the 20th Congress, as well as the “guidelines” issued by the House committee on justice
Furthermore, the vice president also sought the SC’s help in issuing a final injunction to nullify the impeachment proceedings relating to the complaints against her “for being unconstitutional,” and to prevent Congress from taking any further actions on the complaints. /cb
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