House says Senate buried impeachment too soon

DESPITE SC APPEAL PENDING

- 

This was the question posed by House Speaker Martin Romualdez after the Senate voted on Wednesday, August 6, to archive the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte.

House leaders expressed disbelief over how swiftly the upper chamber adopted the amended motion of Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, which sought to archive the impeachment based on the July 25 Supreme Court ruling.

“To archive is, in effect, to bury the Articles of Impeachment. Yet the ruling of the Supreme Court is not final,” Romualdez said in a statement on Thursday, August 7.

Nineteen senators voted to archive the complaint, with four opposing and one abstaining.

While House Deputy Majority Leader Zia Alonto Adiong said the Senate’s action comes as no surprise, he and other House officials questioned why most senators simply brushed aside the House’s motion for reconsideration still pending before the high court.

“It came not as a surprise para sa akin considering the political alignments in the Senate,” Adiong said at a press conference on Thursday.