Sara defense welcomes SC ruling junking impeachment case

The defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday, 29 January 2026, welcomed the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding its decision declaring the articles of impeachment against her unconstitutional.

"We acknowledge the Resolution of the Supreme Court denying the Motion for Reconsideration filed by the House of Representatives," Duterte’s defense team said in a statement.

"We thank the Honorable Court for a ruling that now definitively lays down clear and authoritative guidance on the constitutional limits and proper treatment of impeachment proceedings," the Vice President’s lawyers added.

The defense team said the matter is now closed, with the issues settled by the High Court.

"We should then move on to address the nation’s other pressing concerns," they said.

The Supreme Court has affirmed its earlier ruling declaring the articles of impeachment against the Vice President unconstitutional.

In a press briefing Thursday, Supreme Court spokesperson Atty. Camille Ting said the court en banc denied with finality the motion for reconsideration filed by the House of Representatives seeking to reverse the decision.

In July 2025, the High Court unanimously ruled that the articles of impeachment were barred by the Constitution’s one-year rule.

In December 2024, three impeachment complaints were filed against Duterte over the alleged misuse of confidential funds.

However, it was the fourth impeachment complaint that was endorsed by a majority of House lawmakers and later transmitted to the Senate as the articles of impeachment.

The House of Representatives subsequently filed a motion for reconsideration, arguing that the archiving of the first three complaints occurred after the transmittal of the fourth complaint and therefore did not fall under the one-year ban.

In its decision, the Supreme Court clarified that the first three impeachment complaints filed under the first mode were not included in the Order of Business within the required 10 session days.