Sara impeach case may reach SC

The House of Representatives prosecution panel may bring the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte to the Supreme Court (SC) if the Senate decides to dismiss it, panel spokesperson Atty. Antonio Audie Bucoy said Saturday.

In a news forum, Bucoy emphasized the SC’s role in resolving constitutional issues.

“If the Senate drops the case, the Supreme Court is our last resort,” Bucoy said at the Saturday News Forum, emphasizing the SC’s role in resolving constitutional issues.

This comes after Duterte dismissed the impeachment complaint filed by the House as a “scrap of paper.” Her legal team filed a 35-page response arguing the complaint was illegal and violated the Constitution’s one-year bar on filing impeachment cases against the same official.

“We have nowhere else to go because only the Supreme Court is the final judge on the constitutional issue of whether it is compliant with the Constitution or not,” Bucoy said.

The House prosecutors urged the Senate to proceed with a full trial, saying the charges are serious and deserve a public hearing.

If the Senate rules in Duterte’s favor and dismisses the complaint, Bucoy said the House panel will file a petition for certiorari with mandamus before the Supreme Court claiming “grave abuse of discretion” by the Senate.

“The only thing the SC can do is either reverse or modify their decision,” he added.

In an earlier interview, Senate President Francis Escudero said any senator-judge can submit a motion to dismiss the case, and there’s no rule against such a move.

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa initially moved to dismiss the case, but the motion was later amended to sending the complaint back to the House while waiting for the necessary documents.

Bucoy warned that a constitutional crisis could arise if the Senate defies a Supreme Court order to proceed with the trial.

“There will be a constitutional crisis if the Supreme Court issues an order and they refuse to comply. But I doubt they won’t follow,” he said.

Despite the uncertainty, he said the prosecution team still trusts the legal process.

“For us, it’s important that a trial takes place — even if she gets acquitted — as long as we’re able to show the people the evidence of all the crimes she committed,” he said.

“It’s the people who will judge you. But let me go back to this — we still trust the process because, for now, these are just suspicions. In the coming days, we’ll find out if our concerns were justified,” he added.

Vice President Duterte faces charges of betrayal of public trust, constitutional violations, graft, and misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds. She also allegedly threatened to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez killed.

Duterte has denied all the allegations.

Bucoy said the prosecution has not yet decided whether to seek the inhibition of the senator-judges who may be biased.