SC seeks Palace, Congress comment on VP impeachment plea

The Supreme Court (SC) has directed the House of Representatives and the Senate to comment on the petition of Vice President Sara Duterte seeking to nullify her impeachment as well as stop her coming trial.

- DAPHNE GALVEZ

The high tribunal gave both chambers of Congress a non-extendible period of 10 days upon receipt of the order to file their comment, SC spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting said.

In a petition filed with the SC on Feb. 17, Duterte alleged the impeachment complaint transmitted by the House of Representatives to the Senate for trial violated the constitutional provision that bars the filing of more than one complaint within one year from the start of proceedings.

In her petition, Duterte asked the SC to issue a temporary restraining order to stop the Senate from acting on the fourth impeachment complaint, and a writ of preliminary injunction to prevent the chamber from proceeding with her trial.

She said three separate impeachment complaints had already been filed before the House of Representatives and the transmittal of the fourth to the Senate should have been prohibited as provided for under Section 3(5), Article XI of the Constitution.

Under such provision, no impeachment proceedings "shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year."

Duterte accused the House of Representatives of "deliberately circumventing" the one-year bar provision when it supposedly directed Secretary General Reginald Velasco to "withhold" the first three complaints to give lawmakers more time to file the fourth impeachment complaint.

She contended that this amounted to grave abuse of discretion or lack or excess of jurisdiction.

The Vice President also warned that allowing the impeachment to proceed will "result in the abhorrent practice by the Congress of dangling the threat of an impeachment proceeding against any impeachable officers in perpetuity."