House panel to file motion for reconsideration on SC ruling in VP Sara impeachment

The House of Representatives will file a motion for reconsideration with the Supreme Court (SC) after it ruled as unconstitutional the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, House spokesperson Atty. Princess Abante said Sunday.

"Nagbigay na rin ng pahayag si Speaker Martin Romualdez kagabi na ang House of Representatives ay magfa-file ng motion for reconsideration sa naging desisyon ng Korte Suprema na dineclare na unconstitutional ang paghain ng impeachment complaint laban kay Vice President Sara Duterte," Abante said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

(Speaker Martin Romualdez said last night that the House of Representatives will file a motion for reconsideration regarding the Supreme Court decision declaring as unconstitutional the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.)

This is because there are factual details that the SC may have not taken into consideration in coming up with the decision, she said.

"Sa ngayon, ang nakikita natin, unang una, may mga factual na mga detalye na hindi na-take into consideration ng SC, tungkol du'n sa binanggit na hindi dumaan sa plenaryo 'yung impeachment complaint. Lahat 'yan ay nasa record ng House of Representatives kaya magfa-file pa rin ng motion for reconsideration para mas maliwanagan din ang mga detalye ang mayroon ang Supreme Court," Abante said.

(For now, we see that, first, there were factual details that the SC did not take into consideration such as when it said the impeachment complaint did not reach the plenary. All that is in the records of the House of Representatives. A motion for reconsideration will be filed to shed light on the details the Supreme Court has.)

Abante said those matters were included in the documents submitted before to the SC.

"Kasama naman 'yan sa mga documents na na-submit before sa comment sa compliance na ni-require ng Supreme Court sa House of Representatives, pero mukhang hindi siya na-take into consideration sa paggawa ng desisyon. Kaya magfa-file ng motion of reconsideration ang House para mabigyan ng pagkakataon na mapakinggan ulit ang House of Representatives dito sa naging proseso na ito," she said.

(That was among the documents submitted before in the comment as compliance to the Supreme Court order to the House of Representatives. However, it seems these were not taken into consideration in coming up with the decision. So the House will file a motion for reconsideration to allow the House of Representatives to be given an opportunity to be heard again regarding this process.)

The SC declared the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte as unconstitutional, court spokesperson Atty. Camille Ting announced Friday. 

Voting 13-0, the SC ruled unanimously, deeming that the Articles of Impeachment are barred by the one-year rule under Article XI Section 3 paragraph 5 of the Constitution. Moreover, magistrates ruled that the articles violated the right to due process.

Filing

Abante however said she could not give a date yet as to when the filing will be done.

"Nasa rules naman po that apparently we would still have at least 15 days to file their motion pero hihintayin natin kung kailan ito maihahanda ng counsel ng House of Representatives," she said.

(According to the rules, we apparently would still have at least 15 days to file the motion. But we will wait for the counsel of the House of Representatives to prepare it.)

Abante said it is up to the Senate as to what it would do after the Supreme Court ruling.

"Naniniwala po ako na sana ay gawin ng Senado ang kanilang role sa impeachment proceedings," she said.

(I believe, and I hope the Senate will do their role in impeachment proceedings.)

"Para naman po sa House of Representatives, sabi naman po natin, sisiguraduhin namin na lalaban ang independence ng House of Representatives lalong lalo na sa naging role nito, ang exclusive role na binigay ng Konstitutusyon sa pag-initiate ng impeachment proceedings," she said.

(For the House of Representatives, we said that we would ensure that we will fight for the independence of the House of Representatives, especially with regard to its exclusive role given by the Constitution to initiate impeachment proceedings.)

Abante said despite the SC ruling, there is still a chance for those who voted to change their decision.

"Bagamat merong ganitong desisyon ang Korte Suprema, may pagkakataon pa ng mabago ito regardless kung ilan yung bumoto diyan ay meron pa naman kaming kailangang maihain para mapakita yung mga detalye na maaaring hindi nila na-take into consideration doon sa una nilang desisyon," she said.

(Even if the SC has issued a decision, there is still a chance that this can be changed regardless of how many voted for it. We still have a motion for reconsideration to file to show the details that may not have been taken into consideration in their decision.)

Abante said the House prosecution team will continue to prepare for the impeachment.

"Hindi nman titigil ang House panel of prosecutors sa paghahanda anuman ang maging sitwasyon tungkol sa impeachment complaint. Ang importante ay patungkol sa kaso na ito ay maihanda na ang motion for reconsideration. Nasa Kamara na 'yan kung ano ang mga susunod na hakbangin," she said.

(The House panel of prosecutors will not stop its preparations regardless of the situation is about the impeachment complaint. What's important regarding this case is the motion for reconsideration be prepared. It is up to Congress what would be the next steps.)

20th Congress

Abante said the House of Representatives is ready for the opening of the 20th Congress on Monday, July 28.

"Handang handa naman ang House of Representatives sa pagbubukas ng 20th Congress bukas. Despite na nagkaroon tayo ng pag-ulan, naging maaga naman ang paghahanda ng House para masiguro na ready na for any eventuality ang House of Representatives para sa pagbubukas ng 20th Congress at ng SONA," she said.

(The House of Representatives is very much ready for the opening of 20th Congress tomorrow. Despite the rains we had, the preparations done by the House were made early to ensure it is ready for any eventuality.)

"Wala pong red carpet bukas. Ang gusto nating bigyan ng mas pansin ay 'yung magiging ulat ng ating Pangulo, hindi lang 'yung mga kasuotan ng mga bisita natin bukas," Abante said.

(There is no red carpet tomorrow. We want to put more focus on the President's report, not just the outfits of our visitors tomorrow.) —KG, GMA Integrated News