Supreme Court on Sara impeachment: try again on February 6, 2026
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 25 July) – Citing violation of due process and the one-year rule on impeachment complaints, the Supreme Court En Banc in a unanimous decision (15-0) declared as ‘unconstitutional” the House of Representatives’ Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, and ruled that the Senate cannot proceed on hearing the case.
In its 97-page decision penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the Court said it is “not absolving Vice President Duterte from any of the charges against her” but said any subsequent impeachment complaint “may only be filed starting February 6, 2026.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling is immediately executory.
“Our fundamental law is clear: the end does not justify the means,” it said.
“There is a right way to do the right thing at the right time. This is what the Rule of Just Law means. This is what fairness or due process of law means, even for impeachment,” it added.
As accountable as the subject of the impeachment
Four impeachment complaints were filed against the Vice President on December 2, 4, and 19, 2024 and February 5, 2025.
The fourth complaint was lodged by a resolution approved by more than one-third of the House of Representatives on February 5, and transmitted as the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate on the same day.
Two petitions were filed at the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the impeachment. One petition was filed by the Vice President and the other by Davao City-based lawyers led by Israelito Torreon and city councilors.
The Vice President has not posted a statement as of 9:30 p.m. Friday. But a statement from her defense team, from lawyer Michael Wesley Poa, said the Supreme Court’s decision “affirms what we had maintained from the outset – that the fourth impeachment complaint is constitutionally infirm.”
“This unanimous Decision has once again upheld the rule of law and reinforced the constitutional limits against abuse of the impeachment process,” it said.
The Law Firm of Torreon and Partners, the counsel for the petitioners in one of the cases filed before the Supreme Court said the decision “is a resounding triumph of due process and constitutional order.”
It added that the Court has spoken with clarity and firmness that “due process is not optional,” that impeachment, a constitutional mechanism reserved only for the most serious of offences, “must be wielded with solemnity, not political expediency. It cannot be reduced to a partisan tool nor serve as leverage for budgetary favors or electoral gain. The people deserve better.”
“We maintain that the Vice President, elected by over 32 million Filipinos, deserves nothing less than a process that reflects the will of the people, not the pressure of political convenience,” it said.
As accountable as the subject of the impeachment
The Supreme Court said impeachment is a constitutional and therefore legal process that takes place within a political environment. “That it is sui generis does not convert it to a purely political process isolated from the requirements of the Constitution as a whole.”
It noted that the basic constitutional mandate is that public office is a public trust and as a constitutional value, any process seeking accountability of public officers must take place within the strict framework and procedure outlined in the Constitution. “Those who participate in this process are as accountable to our people as those who are made the subject of impeachment,” it stressed.
Article XI, Section 3 (5) of the 1987 Constitution states that no impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.
The Court said all legal issues involving impeachment proceedings are subject to judicial review, “considering the nature of the offices and the institutions that are subject to impeachment, its effect on the independence of constitutional departments and organs, and its nature as a constitutional process.”
“The impeachment process is primarily a legal and constitutional procedure but with political characteristics. It may be sui generis but it is not a purely political proceeding. This means that the Bill of Rights, especially the due process clause and the right to speedy disposition of cases, applies to the entire impeachment process,” it said.
Although the Court does not determine whether an impeachable officer may be removed or disqualified from political office, it emphasized that “it has the duty to construe the process mandated in the Constitution.”
“It is not our duty to favor any political result. Ours is to ensure that politics are framed within the Rule of Just Law. We cannot concede the sobriety of fairness inherent in due process of law to the passions of a political moment. Our fundamental law is clear: The end does not justify the means,” it said. (MindaNews)
READ: Supreme Court’s July 25, 2025 decision on VP Sara Duterte’s impeachment
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