'We followed the law': House defers receipt of remanded impeachment raps from Senate

The House of Representatives officially deferred the acceptance of the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte that were remanded by the Senate due to alleged infirmities, including the one-year bar rule.

The deferral followed the adoption of House Resolution 2346 during Wednesday’s plenary session, the last day of Congress before it adjourned sine die.

The resolution explicitly states that the House did not breach the Constitution, particularly Article XI, Section 3, Paragraph 5, which prohibits the filing of more than one impeachment case against the same official within a one-year period.

Duterte was impeached by the House in February on charges of graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, and other high crimes.

Similar to her pending petition before the Supreme Court, the VP’s allies in the Senate, such as Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, raised concerns that the House likely breached the said provision because the fourth impeachment complaint it transmitted to the Senate on 5 February came just two months after the first three petitions were filed in the lower house.

On top of this, pro-Duterte senators also asserted that the trial, which commenced in the 19th Congress, cannot be carried over to the new Congress, hence its effective dismissal.

Voting 18-5, the Senate remanded the impeachment complaint to the House, ordering the lower chamber to certify that they did not violate the one-year bar rule.

The adopted resolution formed the House’s response to the Senate’s order. The chamber maintained that the initiation of the impeachment proceedings was in accordance with the Constitution and that it was sufficient in form and substance upon filing, thus formally initiating the proceedings without need for referral to the Committee on Justice.

“The House of Representatives affirms that the initiation of the impeachment proceedings against the Vice President on February 5, 2025, was conducted in full compliance with the Constitution, the Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings of the House of Representatives, and applicable jurisprudence,” the resolution read.

Prior to the adoption of the resolution, the House prosecutors announced that they would defer the receipt of the remanded articles of impeachment pending clarification from the upper chamber.

The prosecution panel said they are “confused” with the actions taken by the Senate impeachment court because they “fully and strictly” complied with the rules and procedures concerning the impeachment, including the one-year bar rule.

“Mr. Speaker, I move to defer acceptance of the Articles of Impeachment until such time as the Senate sitting as an impeachment court has responded to the clarificatory queries raised by the panel of prosecutors relative to the remand of the subject articles,” Isabela Rep. Faustino Dy said in the plenary, which was approved by Deputy Speaker Robbie Puno, presiding over the session.

‘House followed the law’

House Speaker Martin Romualdez, accused by Senate President Chiz Escudero of orchestrating the impeachment complaint, lamented that the Senate’s remanding of the articles is “deeply concerning.”

He downplayed that the House move was a political attack disguised as an impeachment.

“This is not political exercise; this is a constitutional duty,” Romualdez said in his closing speech.

“The House of Representatives acted not out of haste, but with deliberate care. We shall comply with the requirements of the impeachment court, not to abandon our cause, but to ensure the process continues,” he continued.

The fourth verified impeachment complaint was endorsed by 215 lawmakers, double the required one-third votes to bypass committee hearings and be directly transmitted to the Senate for trial.

The complaint primarily centered on Duterte’s alleged assassination plot against President Marcos Jr.’s family and the supposed misappropriation of more than P600 million in confidential funds allocated to her office and the Department of Education during Duterte’s tenure as secretary.