THE Senate through its Office of the Legal Counsel yesterday told the Supreme Court that it cannot provide information that the latter is requesting regarding the impeachment case filed against Vice President Sara Duterte, saying only the House of Representatives can provide such details.
The Senate’s position was contained in a three-page manifestation ad cautelam in response to the en banc resolution issued by the High Court last week on Duterte’s impeachment case.
“Respondent Senate manifests that it lacks sufficient knowledge or information on the matters stated under items (a) to (k) of the said Resolution, and thus, is not in a position to respond to the Honorable Court’s directive,” the Senate’s manifestation stated.
“The information required by the Honorable Court, particularly under items (a) to (e) thereof, are the same information asked of the House of Representatives by the Senate sitting as an impeachment court in its Order dated June 11, 2025,” it added.
This developed as Sen. Joel Villanueva said several senators are looking at convening the impeachment court next month, to give the Senate as legislative body enough time to organize itself when the First Regular Session of the 20th Congress officially opens on July 28.
Villanueva said the original calendar of July 29 to convene the Senate as an impeachment court may not push through because the chamber still has to elect its leader and organize the committees. The oath-taking of new senators as judges of the impeachment court may have to be done also next month or on August 4, he said.
The Senate, in the manifestation, expressed belief that only the House and/or its secretary general can answer or provide the information requested by the High Court.
Among details or information being sought by the Court en banc from both the Senate and the House are: Status of the initial three impeachment complaints filed by private citizens; precise dates the private complaints were endorsed by House members; whether the House secretary general holds discretionary power over the transmittal to the Speaker of endorsed impeachment complaints; exact number of session days that elapsed between the proper endorsement of the private complaints and their transmittal to the Speaker and subsequent inclusion in the Order of Business; and which office or committee drafted the articles of impeachment transmitted to the Senate and its completion date.
The SC issued the order after consolidating two petitions seeking to stop the impeachment trial against Duterte.
Impeachment court spokesman Reginald Tongol said the response “underscores the constitutional boundaries of each branch and the limits of what information the Senate can provide especially when it has no official access to these matters and when these matters are similarly being asked from the House to provide in its Order dated June 11, 2025.”
At the House, lawmakers said public clamor for the impeachment trial should prompt the Senate to begin the process as soon as possible “because not only senators will be the judges but al Filipinos since the Constitution states that ‘public office is a public trust’—and that trust must never be abused or violated.”
Rep. Jose Manuel Diokno (PL, Akbayan), a member of the 11-man prosecution panel, said Filipinos have long been waiting to see the prosecution’s evidence against Duterte.
“When we say trial, that means the presentation of evidence and witnesses so we’ll know what the case really is,” he said in Filipino.
While public opinion is not the only basis for judging the case, Diokno said, elected officials including senator-judges should not ignore it. He added that results of a recent survey results “should serve as an eye opener for all public officials.”
The survey of the Social Weather Stations last month showed that 66 percent of respondents agreed that Duterte should face the impeachment case and answer all the allegations against her.
SCHEDULE
Villanueva said some senator-judges are looking to have the new senators take their oaths as impeachment court judges and at the same time convene the impeachment court. “And it looks like we are just going to wait for one week to organize ourselves as a Senate, the committees etc., leadership. It is also the same in the House of Representatives,” Villanueva said in Filipino at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum.
“And then the week after, we can convene the impeachment court and have the defense and the prosecution present their cases … We’re looking at August 4,” he added.
Senate President Francis earlier said that the Senate impeachment court is looking to convene not earlier than July 29. July 28 is the ceremonial opening of the First Regular Session of the 20th Congress, and the day Marcos will deliver is fourth state of the nation address.
Official functions of the Senate and the House will be tackled the following day.
Diokno welcomed Villanueva’s announcement on reconvening as an impeachment court on August 4, saying “the Constitution commands that the Senate, after it has convened the impeachment court, must conduct the trial forthwith.”
‘SAVINGS’
Ruth Castelo, spokesperson of the Office of the Vice President, said government will save millions if the Supreme Court decides in favor of the two petitions seeking to declare the impeachment complaint as null and void. One was filed by Duterte and the other by lawyers led by Israelito Torreo.
Castelo said in case the High Court decides that the petitions should be dismissed, the Vice President is ready to face trial.
However, if the SC would rule that the impeachment complaint cannot be heard, “then we’ll be very lucky actually as a country because we’ll save millions and millions of money on the trial that is ‘technically defective’ from the beginning.”
“So it would be okay if the trial should not proceed. It’s also right for us not to waste the country’s resources. We have a lot of needs to spend that on instead of the trial that may face technical issues at the end,” she told a press conference, in Filipino.
Castelo maintained that the Vice President is ready for the trial and “she’s been saying that.”
“She’s eager to be able to present her case or her evidence in the impeachment court so that once and for all, all doubts cast on her will go away. And that’s what she wants,” she said.
Diokno, on the complaint being “technically defective,” said Duterte has no one to blame for her woes but herself because of her refusal to answer questions hounding her use of confidential funds.
“First of all, we should remember where the impeachment case stemmed from. That was the result of the investigation of congressmen, the committees of the House of Representatives,” he said.
The House last February impeached the Vice President based on various allegations, including her alleged misuse of a total of P612.5 million in confidential funds disbursed by both the Department of Education, which she used to head as secretary, and the OVP through the use of dubious recipients such as the now infamous “Mary Jane Piattos.”
Duterte is facing seven Articles of Impeachment, which also cited her use of P125 million in just 11 days in December 2022 when she was still education secretary. – With Wendell Vigilia
