Palace: SC is final arbiter, wait for final ruling on impeachment

By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos, Philippine News Agency

Castro maintained that Marcos and Malacañang will not intervene in issues related to Duterte’s impeachment. (PNA file photo by Joan Bondoc)

MANILA – The fate of Vice President Sara Duterte will be determined by the Supreme Court (SC) since it is the “final arbiter” of the law and will be the one to rule with finality on her impeachment case, Malacañang said on Friday.

In an interview with reporters at PR001, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the SC has yet to decide on the motion for reconsideration seeking the reversal of its ruling that declared as unconstitutional the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte.

“Noon pa natin sinagot ito. Kung anuman ang magiging desisyon ng Supreme Court, yan ay igagalang ng Pangulo, ng Ehekutibo. Bakit (We have already answered this. Whatever the decision of the Supreme Court will be, the President, the Executive [branch] will respect it. Why)? Because the Supreme Court is the final arbiter of any legal issues,” Castro said.

“So, since meron pang motion for reconsideration, tingnan na lang natin kung ano magiging pasya rito ng Supreme Court (there is still a motion for reconsideration, let’s just see what the decision of the Supreme Court would be).”

The Senate on Wednesday approved the motion of Senator Rodante Marcoleta to “adhere to the immediately executory decision” of the SC, effectively archiving the impeachment complaint.

The SC en banc, in a unanimous decision on July 25, ruled that the Senate could not acquire jurisdiction over the impeachment proceedings, saying the impeachment complaint is barred by the Constitution’s one-year rule and violates the right to due process enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

In a press briefing during his state visit to India on Friday, Marcos said the SC decision on Duterte’s impeachment case has no bearing on merits, as it addressed only procedural issues and did not touch on the substance of the complaint.

Castro maintained that Marcos and Malacañang will not intervene in issues related to Duterte’s impeachment.

“Well, unang-una siguro dapat mapaaalala sa ating bise presidente na hindi ang administrasyon ni Marcos Jr., hindi ang ehekutibo ang nagsampa or nag-submit ng articles of impeachment kundi ang (first of all, our Vice President should be reminded that it was not the Marcos Jr. administration, it was not the executive that filed or submitted the articles of impeachment, but the) House of Representatives,” she said.

“So, noon pa sinasabi natin na ang Pangulo, ang ehekutibo ay hindi mangingialam sa trabaho ng House of Representatives saka ng Senado (we have been saying for a long time that the President, the executive will not interfere in the work of the House and the Senate).”