MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine Supreme Court ruled Friday that an impeachment case filed against Vice President Sara Duterte violated the country’s constitution due to a key technicality, a decision that blocks her upcoming trial over a raft of criminal allegations including her threat to have the president assassinated.
The House of Representatives, which impeached Duterte in February and sent the case to the Senate for trial, violated a rule that only one impeachment case could be processed by the lower chamber against an impeachable official in a single year, court spokesperson Camille Ting said.
The House received at least four separate impeachment cases against Duterte between December and February but only one was transmitted to the Senate, which would have served as an impeachment tribunal.
The other three impeachment cases were placed in the House's order of business but were archived with no action and “effectively dismissed,” according to the ruling.
The ruling was “immediately executory,” the court said.
“It is not our duty to favor any political result,” the court said in a statement, suggesting it did not pass judgement on the array of allegations. “Ours is to ensure that politics are framed within the rule of just law.”
Duterte's lawyers welcomed the decision, which they said upheld the rule of law.
“We remain prepared to address the allegations at the proper time and before the appropriate forum," the attorneys in a statement.
Duterte, 47, became the first vice president of the Philippines to be impeached by the House in February over an array of alleged high crimes.
The accusations were led by her threat during a November online news conference to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife and cousin, then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez, killed by an assassin if she were killed herself during her high-profile disputes with them.
The daughter of Marcos’ controversial predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, she also has been accused of large-scale corruption, sedition, terrorism and failing to openly support Philippine government efforts to oppose and denounce China’s aggressive actions against Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea.
Duterte allegedly backed her father’s brutal crackdowns against illegal drugs that led to extrajudicial killings in their southern home city.
Her impeachment trial was set to begin either next week or early next month by the 24-member Senate, which has convened to hear the case. If the Supreme Court ruling becomes final, the vice president's opponents could file another impeachment case after a year.
Duterte ran as Marcos’s running mate in 2022 on a campaign battle cry of unity in their deeply divided and poverty-stricken Southeast Asian country. Both were scions of strongmen accused of human rights violations, but their strong regional bases of political support combined to give them landslide victories.
Their whirlwind political alliance, however, rapidly frayed when they took office.
Duterte’s father openly accused Marcos of being a weak leader and a drug addict even during the campaign, allegations the president denied. The vice president later resigned from her then-concurrent Cabinet post as educations secretary as the rifts between the two political families deepened.
She later accused Marcos, his wife and Romualdez of corruption, weak leadership and attempting to muzzle her because of speculation she may seek the presidency in 2028 when Marcos’s six-year term ends.
Duterte made the comment about killing Marcos and his family members during a Nov. 23 news conference, a threat she warned wasn’t a joke.
Faced with the prospects of criminal lawsuits, Duterte later said she wasn’t threatening him but was expressing concern for her own safety. Still, her statements set off a criminal investigation and national security concerns and prompted calls for her impeachment.
Among the impeachment complaint signatories was the president’s son, Rep. Sandro Marcos, and Romualdez. The petition urged the Senate to shift into an impeachment court to try the vice president, “render a judgement of conviction,” remove her from office and ban her from holding public office.
“Duterte’s conduct throughout her tenure clearly displays gross faithlessness against public trust and a tyrannical abuse of power that, taken together, showcases her gross unfitness to hold public office and her infidelity to the laws and the 1987 Constitution,” the complaint said.
Last month, senators voted to send the raft of complaints back to the House due to legal questions, sparking street protests demanding Duterte’s immediate trial.
Then-Senate President Chiz Escudero said the move led by Duterte’s allies in the Senate did not mean the impeachment complaint was being dismissed and issued a summons for Duterte to appear when the trial proceeds.
Jim Gomez, The Associated Press
