Tribunal raps fake doctrine

The Supreme Court (SC) has corrected a senator it said had falsely cited jurisprudence to support her call for a review of the unanimous decision declaring the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte unconstitutional.

Senator Risa Hontiveros cited the ruling in the “League of Cities” case as an example of the high court reversing a “unanimous decision.”

The case referred to by the senator was not unanimous, SC spokesperson Camille Ting said.

Hontiveros made the statement during the debate over the archiving of the impeachment complaint against Duterte, which the SC had invalidated in a 13-0-2 vote.

Ting clarified: “The SC’s ruling in the League of Cities case was not unanimous. Please refer to the Decision and Resolutions published in the SC E-Library and the Philippine Reports.”

She added that the Tribunal was “uncertain as to the source of the claim that the decision was unanimous.”

Hontiveros, during the Senate’s deliberation on whether to archive the impeachment complaints, cited the League of Cities case as an example of the Court reversing a prior ruling on a motion for reconsideration.

The senator also referenced the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications Inc. et al. v. Greenpeace Southeast Asia case, where a unanimous decision was similarly reversed.

Hontiveros spoke in support of the position of Senate Minority Leader Tito Sotto, who had suggested that the Senate wait for the SC’s final ruling on the pending motion for reconsideration filed by the House before taking further action.

“Upon checking again, the many reversals in the League of Cities’ decisions were not decided unanimously,” Hontiveros said. “The fact remains that at least one unanimous case was reversed en banc, and it is not unheard of.”

Voting 19-4-1 on Wednesday, the Senate moved to archive the articles of impeachment in relation to the complaint against Duterte.

Senator Rodante Marcoleta initially sought the dismissal of the impeachment case, but later agreed to have it archived instead, on a motion by Senator Joel Villanueva.

Ratings on a downslide

Meanwhile, restoring transparency and stamping out corruption may be the Senate’s best move to win back the public’s trust amid its plunging ratings, according to Senator Panfilo M. Lacson.

Lacson, in a television interview, acknowledged that the Senate’s drop in both its trust and performance ratings could be tied to controversial issues that have stirred public frustration, including alleged “pork” insertions in the national budget and the divisive impeachment proceedings against Vice President Duterte.

“It could have been a factor, rightly or wrongly. That is the public’s perception because that is what people see and read daily. It’s a combination of so many factors, so we must be careful,” he said.

A 12 to 17 July survey by Octa Research found that public trust in the Senate fell from 57 percent to 49 percent, while its performance rating dipped from 53 percent to 47 percent.

The sharp decline coincided with reports linking several senators to P142 billion in last-minute “bicam insertions” and criticism over the perceived mishandling of Duterte’s impeachment case.