SC decided from 'non-existent' news, yet Senate obeyed it

GOTCHA

- JARIUS BONDOC

The Supreme Court voided VP Sara Duterte's impeachment based on non-existent news. The Senate obeyed the groundless ruling. The SC voted 13-0. The Senate, 19-4-1. 13 justices and 19 senators rendered judgment from nothing.

They concluded that the House of Representatives gravely abused its discretion. Supposedly the House produced Articles of Impeachment without a plenary.

The House petitioned SC to correct itself. Whether the justices will do so is unknown. Pro-Duterte senators claim that SC never alters unanimous rulings.

Impeachment is the people's way of exacting accountability from their highest officials. Justices and senators crushed accountability based on illusion.

SC's 97-page ruling of July 25 referred to an imagined news. Page 8 of Narration of Facts claims: "At 4:47 p.m. of February 5, 2025, House Secretary Velasco transmitted the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate even without a plenary vote."

Footnote 30 adduced an ABS-CBN News report, "House impeaches VP Sara Duterte," https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/2/5/house-impeaches-vp-sara-duterte-1551 But the second sentence of the news report stated, "At the House plenary session on Wednesday [Feb. 5], 215 of 306 House members supported a fresh complaint against Duterte..."

Another sentence read, "In his closing statement during the House of Representatives' last session day before the campaign and election season, House Speaker Romualdez assured his colleagues..."

A video of the plenary, 12 minutes and 54 seconds, accompanied the report.