House Clashes with SC Over VP Sara Impeach Ruling Twist

The House of Representatives (that’s the big group of lawmakers in the Philippines who help make the rules) is not giving up on its big case against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Even though the Supreme Court (the highest court in the land) already said the impeachment case is not allowed, the House says, “Wait! We can fix this!”

They believe the court made its decision without looking at some very important documents from their end. So now, the House wants the Supreme Court to rethink or “reconsider” its decision.

⚖️ What Does the House Want?

According to House Spokesperson Princess Abante, they’re planning to file something called a “Motion for Reconsideration.” This is like saying:

“Hey Supreme Court, maybe you didn’t see all the facts. Can you please look again?”

Even if the chance of changing the decision seems small—like “shooting for the moon”—they’re still going to try.

“If we can correct the wrong info the Supreme Court used, then the decision can still be changed,” said Abante.

❌ What Did the Supreme Court Say?

Earlier, the Supreme Court stopped the impeachment case. Why?

Because they said the House broke the rules. There’s a special rule in the Constitution that says:

“You can only file ONE impeachment case against the same government official each year.”

But the Court said the House already filed more than one.

🤔 Why Does the Court Think the House Filed More Than One?

Here’s what happened:

1. In the beginning, the House received three separate complaints against VP Sara.

2. But those three were not sent to the Justice Committee. Instead, they were archived (put away or paused).

3. Then, on the same day, the House made a new, combined complaint with the signatures of 215 lawmakers and sent it straight to the Senate to start a trial.

That move skipped the usual step of letting the House Committee on Justice review it first.

So, the Supreme Court said:

“You actually started the impeachment process more than once. That breaks the one-per-year rule.”

🧑‍⚖️ But the House Says… “No, We Followed the Rules!”

The House is pushing back. They say:

• The 215 lawmakers who signed the complaint made it strong enough to go straight to the Senate. That’s allowed by the Constitution.

• Archiving the first three complaints doesn’t count as starting the impeachment process because they were never sent to the Justice Committee.

• Previous Supreme Court decisions (Francisco v. House and Gutierrez v. House) say that an impeachment case only officially starts when it’s sent to the Justice Committee.

Also, they said that using all 10 session days to act on the earlier complaints was not “grave abuse,” like the Court claimed.

🚨 What Is VP Sara Duterte Accused Of?

Here are the very serious accusations listed in the complaint:

1. Planning to hurt or kill President Bongbong Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

2. Stealing or misusing ₱612.5 million of secret government funds with bad or missing paperwork.

3. Giving bribes and doing corrupt acts while working in the Department of Education (DepEd).

4. Getting very rich without explaining how — her wealth reportedly grew 4 times bigger between 2007 and 2017.

5. Being involved in illegal killings in Davao City.

6. Trying to cause chaos, like:

   • Skipping the President’s big speech (SONA) and calling herself a “designated survivor.”

   • Leading protests to make the President resign.

   • Telling her staff to ignore court orders.

   • Threatening the President and his wife with bodily harm.

The House says all of these add up to bad conduct for someone who is supposed to be the second-highest official in the country.

🎭 What Happens Now?

The House says they’ll ask the Supreme Court to review everything again.

But it’s now up to the Senate to decide what to do next.

Will the case move forward? Will the Vice President face trial?

Nobody knows yet—but the drama continues.