The Philippines Supreme Court has upheld a ruling that halted impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte, which a Catholic priest says will force him and other clergy to join rights groups in seeking her impeachment again. Source: UCA News.
In a unanimous decision, the country’s top court affirmed on January 29 its July 2025 ruling that the fourth impeachment complaint against Ms Duterte – transmitted by the House of Representatives to the Senate on February 5 of last year – violated the constitution’s one-year bar on impeachment proceedings.
The Philippine Constitution allows only one impeachment complaint to be initiated against an impeachable official, including the president or vice president, within a one-year period, the court said.
It ruled that the first three impeachment complaints against Ms Duterte, even though they were not acted upon by the House, already counted toward the one-year prohibition, rendering the fourth complaint invalid.
The ruling was “disappointing,” said Fr Joel Saballa, a priest of the Novaliches Diocese in northern Metro Manila and one of the filers of the third impeachment complaint.
“We believe that we will be given a chance to file a new case,” Fr Saballa said. “We are willing to talk with other groups to consolidate the case we will file, so that our filing is not done separately.”
The first three impeachment bids were filed one after the other in December 2024, but they did not proceed to a Senate trial due to disagreements over the constitutional process. Meanwhile, the court also ruled the complaints unconstitutional.
In its decision, the Supreme Court said that with the denial of the House’s appeal of the July ruling, “no further ones will be allowed.”
Observers say the ruling effectively closed the case, and no impeachment case can proceed unless a new complaint is filed.
Fr Saballa said he and other priests plan to join efforts to file a fresh impeachment complaint once the constitutional one-year prohibition period expires this Friday, February 6.
Ms Duterte, 47, the daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, has been accused by her critics of misusing millions of pesos of public funds and plotting to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, allegations she has denied.
Church leaders and activist groups had urged the Senate to proceed with an impeachment trial, but their calls went unheeded after the High Court halted the process.
Fr Saballa said the ruling has strengthened his resolve to pursue the case.
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Priests, activists to again seek impeachment of Philippine VP Duterte (By Paterno Esmaquel II, UCA News)
