Vice President Sara Duterte addresses the media at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City on November 26, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The lead counsel of Vice President Sara Duterte in her impeachment case on Wednesday hoped that their petition would be heard before the Supreme Court, noting the “constitutional issues” surrounding her case. 

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“Sana mabigyan ng pansin ang aming petition. These are really constitutional issues. Kung babasahin niyo ang ating Constitution, even as the House has the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment, hindi yun absolute,” said lawyer Sheila Sison.

“Is the House permitted to have that unbridled discretion not to comply with its own set of rules that it had promulgated for impeachment proceedings just so it could pave the way for the fourth impeachment complaint that we think is Constitutionally proscribe,” she told reporters in a chance interview.

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Sison said the Duterte camp already asked the House Secretary General to provide a copy of the over 200 signatures of the lawmakers on the fourth impeachment complaint.

“Humihingi kami ng certified true and correct copy from the Secretary General and I think this is a request that was refused,” she said.

“We formally requested the Secretary General to provide us a certified true and correct copy of that,” she added.

ACT OF DESPERATION?

Reacting to some House lawmakers saying their petition is an act of desperation, she said this is a “normal” response. 

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“I think sa kahit anumang issue na may magkatunggaling panig, may ganoong reaction. Hindi ko alam san makikita yung desperasyon kung pinag-aralan ang argumento, diba?”

Duterte's camp filed the second legal challenge against the Vice President's impeachment at the Supreme Court.

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In her petition, the Vice President questioned the validity and constitutionality of the fourth impeachment complaint that was eventually transmitted by the House of Representatives to the Senate.

Duterte stressed that the first three impeachment complaints were not transmitted by House Secretary General Reginal Velasco to House Speaker Martin Romualdez. 

But on February 5, 2025, the fourth impeachment complaint signed by 215 congressmen was endorsed by the House to the Senate.

The Senate has yet to act on the articles of impeachment, with Senate President Francis Escudero saying the trial may begin after a new set of senators takes office in July.

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