SPEAKER Martin Romualdez yesterday asked why the Senate rushed to dispose of the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte while the House of Representatives’ appeal to the Supreme Court’s decision declaring the Articles of Impeachment unconstitutional is pending.
Rep. Leila de Lima (PL, Mamamayang Liberal), a member of the House’s prosecution panel, said the Senate “has chosen to protect power instead of upholding accountability.”
“After delaying the impeachment trial for months, despite the constitutional mandate to do so ‘forthwith,’ the Senate now pounces on the Supreme Court decision, almost gloating that they now have enough ammunition for a new round of excuses,” she said.
The Senate, voting 19-4-1 on Wednesday night, archived the Articles of Impeachment mainly based on the decision of the SC issued on July 25.
“To archive is, in effect, to bury the Articles of Impeachment. Yet the ruling of the Supreme Court is not final,” Romualdez said in a statement. “Why the rush?”
The SC, in the 13-0-2 decision, said the House is barred by the one-year rule on the filing of impeachment complaints and it violated the right to due process enshrined in the Bill of Rights, “therefore, the Senate could not acquire jurisdiction over the impeachment proceedings.”
The House filed a motion for reconsideration (MR) on August 5. The tribunal has not issued a decision.
Romualdez, on the MR, said “the court found our arguments serious enough to require the respondents, including the Vice President, to submit their comment.”
“The case is active,” the Speaker said yesterday. “The Constitution is clear: only the House has the exclusive power to initiate impeachment. That power is final within its sphere. We exercised that power lawfully, transparently, and in good faith — not out of spite, but out of duty. Not to attack, but to ask for answers — answers the Vice President never gave.”
Romualdez also denounced “personal attacks (against House members), sweeping accusations, and a narrative that seeks to reduce a solemn constitutional duty into mere power play.”
He said the allegations are not just unfair but “dangerous” because these undermine public trust “in the very tools of democratic checks and balances.”
“Let’s be clear: The filing of the complaint was not rushed. What was rushed —remarkably—was its burial.”
He added the impeachment move “was never about political maneuvering.”
“It was about accountability — `pananagutan’ — anchored on verified facts and sworn documents,” he said.
‘ATAT MUCH’
De Lima disputed the claim of Sen. Rodante Marcoleta that the House leadership lodged the complaint poorly.
“We’re taking a stand: The filing of the Articles of Impeachment before the Senate is not half-baked, not poorly done and not unconstitutional,” she said in Filipino.
“Mga kagalang-galang na mga senador: Masyado kayong apurado, kayo rin naman ang mga nagpabaya nang kalahating taon. Atat much?! (Honorable senators: You’re all in a rush when you, yourselves sat on it for half a year. Over eager?!”
De Lima, a former senator and justice secretary, said senators should not pretend that “this is about respecting the Supreme Court.”
“If the senators truly respected the process, they would have waited for the High Court to decide with finality,” she said.
De Lima, quoting retired SC Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, also said the archiving of the complaint still gives the SC the opportunity to reconsider its decision on the impeachment case instead of denying the House’s appeal on the basis of mootness.
She said the situation provides the House “an opening to continue fighting tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after, this time at the Supreme Court.”
“The fight goes on. Hindi pa tapos ang laban. Kapit lang (The fight isn’t over yet. Just hold on),” she said.
Rep. Jose Manuel Diokno (PL, Akbayan) said if the impeachment trial would not push through, the “last resort” would be to file another complaint in February 2026.
The impeachment articles were transmitted to the Senate on February 5.
LEGITIMACY
Rep. Antonio Tinio (PL, ACT) also condemned the Senate’s move, saying senators “have shown their true colors.”
He said the Senate failed the people in their clamor to hold Duterte accountable for the P612.5 million confidential funds.”
Tinio also said senators have dismissed the impeachment process as “merely political” since some of them believe that Romualdez just wants Duterte eliminated from the 2028 presidential race.
“The problem is they seem to belittle the legitimacy of the issue — brushing it aside, dismissing the issue of confidential funds,” said the returning militant lawmaker.
Another House prosecutor, Manila Rep. Joel Chua, chair of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, said the Senate’s move to archive the impeachment complaint “denied the Filipino people due process.”
Chua expressed hope that the SC will act on the House’s motion which, he said, could revive the case. “We believe that the case is not yet finished, the fight isn’t over. We continue to hope that we’ll be given due process,” he said.
He accused the High Court of overstepping on the House’s exclusive power to initiate an impeachment process when it added “parameters or steps” that make it extremely difficult to impeach officials.
Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said: “The clamor for accountability is the victim of these actions that we have seen yesterday (Wednesday) at the Senate.”
“So if you look at the pattern, even previously when they already had the initial discussion about whether or not Senate would continue on with the impeachment proceedings, mayroon na pong (there was really an) intention really to dismiss the case,” he said.
The militant Makabayan bloc called the Senate “cowards” for allegedly choosing to protect the Vice President instead of seeking accountability for her alleged misuse of hundreds of millions in confidential funds.
“This is a cowardly hit-and-run by the Senate. Even if they archive the impeachment complaint, these senators will go down in our Philippine history as cowards, ‘Sena-duwag’ (cowards),” Rep. Renee Co (PL, Kabataan) said in a press conference, in mixed Filipino ang English.
