Manila, Philippines — Group of lawyers from Mindanao have filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday to halt impeachment proceedings of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Lawyers Israelito Torreon, James Reserva, Hillary Olga Reserva, and former LTFRB chair Martin Delgra led the filing of petition for certiorari and prohibition, asking the SC to stop the Senate of the Philippines from conducting the impeachment trial of Duterte and to cancel the impeachment articles filed by the House of Representatives.
In the 114-page petition, the petitioners argued that the impeachment articles are based off of a defective complaint.
“This petition likewise prays for the issuance of a writ of prohibition to enjoin and prohibit the Senate of the Philippines from acting on the Articles of Impeachment and from proceeding with the impeachment trial, considering that the initiation of the impeachment complaint was procedurally defective, constitutionally infirm, and jurisdictionally void,” the petitioners said.
Torreon noted that there was no prior committee evaluation conducted when the complaint was processed.
He further argued that there was a defect in the verification process, as the first three impeachment complaints were not even considered.
“The Constitution, specifically Article 11, Section 3 thereof mandates that upon receipt of the impeachment complaint, the same should be included in the House—in the order of business within 10 session days. And thereafter, the Speaker should have referred it to the Committee on Justice within three days and these are mandatory provisions which were not followed by the House of Representatives,” Torreon said.
“The verification process requires that it should be personally known, the allegations, or personally known and studied by the respective congressmen who signed it and if you noticed the congressmen who went there did not even know as to the subject matter of the discussion in the House caucus,” he added.
Further, the petition requests the High Court to issue a Temporary Restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction to cease and desist the Senate from conducting the impeachment proceedings.
This is a separate motion from their petition to declare the impeachment articles as null and void.
CALLS TO START IMPEACHMENT TRIAL
Meanwhile, the SC on Tuesday ordered the Senate to immediately respond on the petition filed by lawyer Catalino Generillo asking the Upper Chamber to urgently conduct VP Sara’s trial for impeachment.
SC Spokesperson Atty. Camille Ting said that the high court decided on the matter, giving Senate 10 non-extendible days to comment on the said petition.
“Impeachment is a nationwide concern that will be treated with urgency because of the gravity of the matter,” said Ting.
Generillo cited the “forthwith” provision under the 1987 Consitution in regards to conducting Senate trial on an impeachment complaint.
On the other hand, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III has urged Senate President Francis “Chiz” escudero to start and do not delay any further the impeachment trial of Duterte.
In his letter to Escudero, Pimentel emphasized Senate’s duty—under the Constitution and as cited by Generillo in his petition—to proceed with an impeachment trial as soon as verified complaint for impeachment is filed by the House of Representatives.
“…It is the Senate’s duty to act on the impeachment case of Vice President Sara Duterte ‘without any delay’ or ‘without interval of time.’ I repeat that this is the Senate’s DUTY. Given the gravity of impeachment proceedings, it is imperative that the Senate uphold its duty with urgency, diligence, and a steadfast commitment to the Constitution,” Pimentel noted.