Former senator and incoming ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima —House of Representatives photo
MANILA, Philippines — The masses seeking accountability over Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged constitutional violations would not stay silent just because the Senate sent complaints back to the House of Representatives, several pro-impeachment personalities warned.
In a statement early Wednesday morning, former senator and incoming Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said that the Senate had the chance to let the people’s voices be heard, but it allegedly succumbed to “cowardice.”
Still, de Lima said the fight for truth would continue.
“You had one job: to let the truth be heard. Instead, you chose silence dressed as procedure. Delay disguised as order. Cowardice in the costume of rules. Pero tandaan niyo ito: Hindi kami tatahimik. At hindi lahat ng dinadaan sa teknikalidad ay nakakalimutan,” De Lima said in a statement, which was also posted on her social media pages.
READ: Senate votes to send Duterte impeachment back to House
“Hindi pa ito tapos. (This is not the end.) The fight for truth continues—outside your halls, beyond your rules, and with the people who still believe that justice must prevail,” he added.
De Lima also asked if the Senate is acting as an impeachment court or a mere cult.
“Harap-harapan na tayong niloloko. Sila ang nagtanong, sila rin ang sumagot. Walang due process. Walang hiya. Ano ito—korte o kulto?” she asked. “There is no rule that allows this. No justice in shutting the door before the people can speak. No truth in a court that silences both sides.”
“This is how impunity thrives: pakonti-konti, paisa-isang hakbang, hanggang sa mabaon sa kalokohan ang katotohanan. To Senators Risa Hontiveros, Koko Pimentel, Nancy Binay, Win Gatchalian, and Grace Poe: thank you for standing your ground. This is not just a setback. It is a stain—on the Senate, on the law, on the very idea that accountability is still possible in this country,” she added.
After the Senate convened as an impeachment court on Tuesday evening, 18 senator-judges voted in favor of the motion introduced by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, which remands the articles of impeachment to the House.
According to the resolution, the senators wanted to ensure that the prohibition on filing more than one impeachment complaint was not violated by the House, and that the raps would not contravene the jurisdiction and authority of the 20th Congress.
Only five opposed the motion.
The motion specified that the return of the articles does not amount to a dismissal or termination of the case.
Unconstitutional
However, the Makabayan bloc, composed of ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel, believes this move by the Senate is unconstitutional.
“We, the Makabayan bloc in Congress, vehemently condemn the Senate impeachment court’s unprecedented and unconstitutional decision to return the articles of impeachment to the House of Representatives,” they said.
“This brazen move represents a dangerous departure from constitutional procedure and sets a perilous precedent that undermines impeachment as a means for exacting accountability from the highest officials. The Senate’s action is not only legally baseless but also a clear abdication of its constitutional duty to try impeachment cases,” they added.
According to Makabayan, there is no provision in the Constitution that allows a return of the articles of impeachment once it is sent to the Senate.
“The Constitution is explicit in its provisions regarding impeachment proceedings. Once the House of Representatives votes to impeach and transmits the articles to the Senate, the upper chamber’s role is to conduct a trial, not to return the articles as if they were defective legislation,” the bloc noted.
Makabayan is not the first to point out the lack of a provision on sending back the articles to the House. Just this Friday, prosecution member and San Juan Rep. Ysabel Zamora noted that the 1987 Constitution does not provide mechanisms for the House to pull back the articles of impeachment once it has been transmitted to the Senate.
READ: House not pulling back on Sara Duterte impeachment case – solon
Earlier, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) called the Senate “spineless” after senator-judges voted 18-5 to send back the articles to the House, to allegedly clear some technical issues surrounding it.
‘Shameless abdication’
According to Bayan, what the Senate did is a “shameless abdication of their constitutional mandate.”
Article XI, Section 3(5) of the 1987 Constitution states that only one impeachment proceeding should be filed in a year.
However, members of the House prosecution panel noted as early as February 20 that the Supreme Court (SC) had already decided in Francisco v. House of Representatives that the one-year prohibition on the filing of new impeachment complaints will start only after the charges are forwarded to the House committee on justice.
READ: Quad comm seeks crimes against humanity raps vs Duterte, Bato, Bong Go
This is a matter that Senate President Francis Escudero acknowledged during his speech at the plenary session on Monday night.
However, none of the three impeachment complaints filed in December 2024 left the Office of House Secretary General Reginald Velasco — which means they were not forwarded to Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
READ: Impeachment complaints vs VP Duterte not yet sent to Romualdez – House
Under House rules, the Speaker is required to act on the impeachment complaints and forward it to the committee on rules within 10 session days after receipt of the complaints, and then it will be referred to the committee on justice “within three session days thereafter.”
This means none of the complaints reached the committee on justice, as the fourth impeachment complaint was filed and signed by 215 lawmakers—therefore initiating a so-called fast-track version supported by Article XI of the Constitution. /cb