Philippines' Supreme Court blocks VP's impeachment trial

Sara Duterte’s lawyers welcomed the Supreme Court's decision, which they said upheld the rule of law

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The Philippine Supreme Court ruled on 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.