House to seek clarity on Senate’s remand before receiving case

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives’ prosecution team will seek clarification from the Senate regarding its decision to remand the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte before accepting it again, Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro said on Wednesday.

During a press briefing at the Batasang Pambansa complex, Luistro said the prosecution panel is confused at the Senate’s order, because they maintain that the articles of impeachment submitted to the Senate last February 5 were in line with the 1987 Constitution.

Luistro said they wish to file the motion seeking for clarification within the day.

“Now, with respect to the action of the Senate last night — the impeachment court requiring us to issue a certification about the compliance with the Constitution, with respect to the filing of the impeachment complaint […] The prosecution panel considers the impeachment court’s order last night unclear, so we resolve to seek the clarification of the impeachment court,” Luistro said.

“With respect to the first order, about the certification pertaining to our compliance with the Constitution in filing the impeachment complaint, we maintain our position, we followed fully and strictly the requirements of the Constitution. We did not violate the one-year prohibition rule,” she added.

On Tuesday evening, 18 senator-judges voted in favor of the motion introduced by Senator-Judge Alan Peter Cayetano, which sent back the articles of impeachment against the Vice President to the House to ensure that constitutional safeguards and issues of jurisdiction were not violated.

Two issues were mentioned: concerns on whether the articles of impeachment did not violate the Constitutional provision stating that only one impeachment complaint can be initiated against an impeachable official; second, that the articles do not step on the jurisdiction and authority of the 20th Congress.

With regards to the second issue, Luistro said they cannot respond to this because the 20th Congress has not yet convened — with lawmakers only starting their office by June 30.

“With respect to the second order, it is impossible to be complied with, because first of all, (the) 20th Congress doesn’t exist yet. We are still in the 19th Congress, and we will adjourn today and we will be looking forward to the convening of the 20th Congress of the Philippines, that will be on July 28 simultaneous with the Sona (State of the Nation Address),” she said.

Luistro clarified that they are not defying the order, and they are only deferring response or further action until after getting clarification from the Senate.

“I don’t think so,” Luistro said when asked if the House’s deferment of the acceptance of the articles of impeachment. “We are not defying the order, we are not disobeying the order, what I said earlier, we are deferring the receipt until we are clarified on the actions taken by the Senate last night.”

“Again, we do not defy, we do not disobey, we are merely deferring receipt of the same to give way to the clarification of all these issues surrounding the actions taken by the Senate last night. That is in as far as I am concerned, as part of the prosecution panel, because as I have said earlier, it is not the job of prosecutors to accept the articles of impeachment that were sent back.,” she added.

The decision to remand the articles stemmed from a motion made by Senator-Judge Ronald dela Rosa to dismiss the complaints against Duterte, which was amended by Cayetano.

Only five members of the 23-person impeachment court opposed the motion.

READ: Senate votes to send Duterte impeachment back to House 

The prosecution team was originally scheduled to leave for the Senate after the ecumenical prayer scheduled at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, and an 11 a.m. press briefing. But with the developments, the panel decided to meet instead to discuss the issue, delaying the press briefing.

Different legal minds have already called out the Senate for acting on a motion to remand the articles to the House. Human rights lawyer and law school dean Chel Diokno in a separate interview earlier reminded the Senate that judges are are not allowed to make motions during a court setup — and instead are only allowed to receive and respond to them.

Diokno believes a question that may be raised is why did the Senate, convened as an impeachment court, acted on the motion.

READ: Diokno to Senate: Judges not allowed to make motions 

In a statement on 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.”

Makabayan bloc lawmakers, composed of ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel, believe the Senate’s move by the Senate is unconstitutional because there is no provision in the Constitution that allows a return of the articles. /das

(2025/06/11-16:24)