VP Sara’s defense team focuses now on response to House appeal

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Aug. 7, Acosta posted a photo of the legal team with Duterte during a thanksgiving celebration.

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“We still have to file a comment to the Motion for Reconsideration filed by the House of Representatives, but we are confident in our legal arguments and believe that due process and the rule of law remain supreme above all. For the country's sake!” she wrote.

The motion seeks to reverse the earlier ruling of the Supreme Court to declare as unconstitutional the impeachment against Duterte, citing the one-year bar rule in the Constitution. The ruling also effectively strips the Senate impeachment court of its jurisdiction.

Senate stands by Constitution

Senate President Francis Escudero said the Senate is standing by the provisions of the Constitution and rule of law when it voted in favor of heeding the Supreme Court’s decision on the impeachment case of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Escudero was one of the 19 senators who voted in favor of archiving the impeachment complaint in deference to the Supreme Court’s ruling, and which the high court said is immediately executory.

“Respect for the rule of law requires all of us to adhere to final or immediately executory court decisions, even when there’s a winner and a loser, to avoid deadlocks and maintain legal order,” Escudero said. “Respect for the rule of law does not bar disagreeing with court decisions nor from forming our own opinions on the meaning and intent and the letter of the spirit of the Constitution.”