Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Friday said the Supreme Court’s decision affirming the unconstitutionality of the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte raised questions that demand answers moving forward.
Nonetheless, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said the High Court’s ruling must be accepted and respected. He issued this statement, in deference to the rule of law, noting that his stance would remain unchanged even if the court had ruled otherwise.
“Agree or disagree, right or wrong, just or unjust, faultless or defective, we must accept and respect the SC ruling on the unconstitutionality of VP Sara Duterte’s impeachment case,” Lacson said. “They are not called the ‘gods of Padre Faura’ for nothing,” the veteran lawmaker added.
Sotto said the ruling constituted an intrusion into the powers of the legislative branch, arguing that impeachment proceedings fall within the authority of Congress.
“It might really take years, or several retirements, before we can finally move forward and put that back in its proper place in the Constitution,” according to the Senate President.
Sotto leaned towards the perspective that the High Court effectively amended the Constitution through its decision.
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld its earlier ruling that the impeachment complaint against Vice President Duterte violated the one-year constitutional ban on filing such cases.
For Sotto, this decision appeared to make it more difficult to remove impeachable officials in the future.
Despite his criticism, Sotto clarified that his position was not directed at any specific individuals who had been the subject of impeachment complaints, including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Duterte.
He also said he could not rule out the possibility that the ruling might have implications for potential impeachment cases involving other officials.
In response to the decision, Sotto said he plans to meet with House Speaker Faustino Dy III next week to discuss possible next steps between the two chambers.
The Senate leader said the 20th Congress may consider amending the Constitution to clarify provisions on impeachment and potentially address economic provisions as well.
“I’m against a constitutional convention and I’m also against a constitutional assembly, but if we’re dealing with things like this, then I’m willing to agree,” Sotto said.
Any significant shift in constitutional interpretation may take years and could depend on changes in the composition of the Supreme Court, according to the Senate President.
“Perhaps a constitutional assembly can act on it, or else we will be waiting for decades,” Sotto said.
The Supreme Court rejected the House of Representatives’ appeal to overturn its July 25 ruling that declared the Articles of Impeachment against the Vice President unconstitutional.
Supreme Court spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting said the justices upheld that the fourth impeachment complaint against Duterte was barred by the one-year rule, which prohibits more than one impeachment proceeding against the same official within a year.
Lacson warned that ignoring the Supreme Court’s decision would make the rule of law the “biggest loser” in the case.
“The High Court is the final arbiter and interpreter of the Constitution. We can expect no interpretation of the law other than the Supreme Court,” he said.
