Senators urge SC to reconsider decision on impeachment raps vs. VP

Senate building (File photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

By Leonel Abasola, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – Several senators on Monday urged the Supreme Court (SC) to reconsider its ruling to stop the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, which the High Court said was due to a technicality.

In a joint statement, Senators Francis Pangilinan, Risa Hontiveros and Bam Aquino called on the SC to “reconsider and apply two principles it has long upheld”, citing “the Fairness Principle — that retroactive application of new legal interpretations should not harm those who relied in good faith on old ones”, and “the Doctrine of Operative Facts — that actions already taken under a prior, valid interpretation should be recognized as legally effective.”

“We respectfully disagree with the Supreme Court’s ruling that halted the Senate’s constitutional duty to try the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte,” it said.

“Congress, acting in good faith and following prevailing jurisprudence, followed the law in initiating and transmitting the complaint. To retroactively apply a new definition of what it means to ‘initiate’ an impeachment case — after the fact — can be likened to changing the rules in the middle of the game. It is unfair,” it said.

The statement said the two principles it earlier mentioned should be upheld so that “the Court would not be undermining its power of review, but rather giving full effect to all branches of government, consistent with the doctrine established in Civil Liberties Union vs. Executive Secretary — that no constitutional provision should be read in a way that negates another.”

“The powers of the Court, the House of Representatives, and the Senate must all be given proper and balanced effect. We did not swear an oath only to protect positions by way of technicalities. We swore to protect the Constitution — and the right of every Filipino to demand truth and justice,” it said.

“If we allow this precedent to stand, we risk silencing the very process meant to keep power in check.”