Ejercito warns of ‘judicial overreach,’ rejects Cha-cha as fix

Senator JV Ejercito on Sunday joined a growing chorus of lawmakers accusing the Supreme Court of “judicial overreach” following its final decision to void the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, but he warned against using constitutional amendments as a remedy.

Ejercito’s remarks follow a call from Senate President Vicente Sotto III to pursue Charter change (Cha-cha) to prevent the high court from intervening in the impeachment process, a power the Constitution exclusively vests in Congress.

“Impeachment is Congress’ primary job and responsibility... That’s very clear,” Ejercito said in a radio interview. “I agree that there is a bit of overreach because this process should really fall under the jurisdiction of the House and the Senate.”

Despite his concerns, Ejercito argued that amending the 39-year-old Constitution to address the ruling is not the best solution. He cited that while he supports relaxing restrictive economic provisions to attract foreign investment, opening the Charter for political reasons requires deeper study and could have dangerous implications.

Ejercito also echoed House Senior Deputy Minority Leader Edgar Erice’s sentiment that there is insufficient time for constitutional amendments, with only two years remaining in the current administration.

He suggested the government should instead focus on pressing issues, such as investigating corruption in flood control projects.

The tension stemmed from a unanimous Supreme Court ruling Thursday that affirmed a July decision nullifying the impeachment case against the Vice President. The court found that the House of Representatives violated the “one-year bar” rule, which prohibits filing more than one impeachment complaint against the same official within a year.

Duterte faced four complaints in late 2025. She was officially impeached on 5 February 2026, after 215 lawmakers — more than double the required one-third of the House — signed a fourth complaint that was transmitted directly to the Senate.

The High Court, however, ruled that the House’s move to expedite the fourth complaint denied Duterte her right to be heard. The court also clarified that the one-year bar began when the first three complaints were filed, regardless of whether they were acted upon by the 19th Congress.