House assures SC it followed rules in Sara impeachment case

The Supreme Court was formally assured by the House of Representatives that it strictly followed constitutional procedures in handling the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte, maintaining that all actions were legally compliant.

In a 16-page Compliance document filed on 16 July 2025 — and made public only on Monday — the House, through Solicitor General Darlene Marie Berberabe, responded to the High Court's queries on the timeline and process of handling the complaints. The Court earlier sought clarification on whether the House met the constitutional requirement to include impeachment complaints in the Order of Business within ten session days.

The House clarified that although it carried out an intermediate step by transmitting complaints to the Speaker, this did not delay the 10-day mandate. Records showed that the first three complaints — filed by private citizens between 2 and 19 December 2024 — were all included in the 5 February 2025 Order of Business. These were later rendered moot when the House plenary adopted a fourth complaint, endorsed by several lawmakers, which was transmitted to the Senate as the formal Articles of Impeachment.

House Secretary General Reginald Velasco affirmed in the filing that his office had no authority to block properly endorsed complaints, citing House rules and the 2011 Supreme Court precedent Gutierrez v. House Committee on Justice. The House also invoked the principle of separation of powers in declining to answer some of the Court's inquiries into its internal processes, referencing the 1998 Santiago v. Guingona ruling, which restricts judicial review of legislative procedures.

With the Senate already having convened as the Impeachment Court on June 10, 2025, the House argued that further scrutiny of the complaints’ validity now falls under the Senate's exclusive jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court is expected to review the House's submission before deciding whether to proceed with its examination of the impeachment process or defer to the Senate's trial.

The complaints against Vice President Duterte allege multiple constitutional violations, though the House did not detail the specific charges in its filing. Duterte has consistently denied wrongdoing, calling the impeachment politically motivated.