Makabayan bloc asks SC to reverse ruling on VP Sara impeachment case

Leaders of mass organizations and progressive lawmakers filed a motion with the Supreme Court urging it to reconsider its decision junking the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte.

In its arguments, the Makabayan bloc said that the Court’s ruling undermines the separation of powers and makes it harder to hold impeachable officials accountable.

The motion for reconsideration was filed jointly by Makabayan party-list representatives and mass leaders who were among the filers of the second impeachment complaint against Duterte.

They were composed of incumbent Representatives Antonio Tinio (ACT Teachers) and Renee Co (Kabataan), along with Makabayan President Liza Maza, Bayan Chairperson Teodoro Casiño, and Bayan President Renato Reyes.

They were joined as intervenors by other figures from the Makabayan bloc, including former Representative France Castro (ACT Teachers) and incumbent Representatives Arlene Brosas (Gabriela) and Raoul Danniel Manuel (Kabataan).

The group is being represented by the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL).

Atty. Josalee S. Deinla, NUPL Secretary General, said the Court’s decision “narrows the very pathway that the Constitution deliberately kept open.”

Deinla said the Constitution makes clear: “if one-third of all House members sign a verified impeachment complaint, it constitutes the Articles of Impeachment and trial must forthwith proceed at the Senate.”

She added the SC’s “additional requirements have no basis in the text and undermine the separation of powers,” she added.

The motion for reconsideration by the intervenors is based on three main arguments, which are: there was no grave abuse of discretion, the one-year ban does not apply, and the House has exclusive discretion.