Azcuna agrees with Senate archiving Sara Duterte impeachment case

Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna on Thursday said he agrees with the Senate’s move to transfer to the archives the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte amid appeals filed with the SC.

“Ako ay sang-ayon sa archiving muna because it does not prejudice the consideration of the motion for reconsideration filed by the House of Representatives,” he told Super Radyo dzBB.

(I am in favor of archiving it for now because it does not prejudice the consideration of the MR filed by the House of Representatives.)

“At sakali man na babaguhin ng SC ang kanilang decision, maaaring kunin ulit ang articles galing sa archives. Puwede naman i-retrieve ng Senado any material in the archives. So it is without prejudice to whatever decision the SC will make on the MR,” he added.  

(And even if the SC changes its decision, the articles can be retrieved from the archives. The Senate can retrieve any material in the archives. So it is without prejudice to whatever decision the SC will make on the MR.)

Azcuna said that the Senate could have chosen not to discuss it, but this was unlikely.

For retired SC justice Antonio Carpio, the Senate's decision to send the articles of impeachment against Duterte to the archives ''does not mean dismissal.''

''Dismissal by the Senate or impeachment court would have rendered the pending SC case moot resulting in the outright denial by the SC of the House MR [motion for reconsideration] on the ground of mootness,'' he said. 

''The SC cannot now deny the MR on the ground of mootness. The SC has to decide the pending MR on the merits. The SC will have to confront the glaring factual errors in its decision, as well as its violation of the doctrine of prospective overruling when the SC applied retroactively its decision abandoning the Francisco and Gutierrez decisions.''

On Wednesday, the Senate voted to transfer the articles to the archives following the ruling of the SC to declare it unconstitutional.

The SC ruled that it was barred by the one-year bar rule under Article XI, Section 3(5) of the Constitution.

The House of Representatives appealed the ruling on Tuesday.

The SC meanwhile ordered Duterte to comment on the motion for reconsideration. 

1Sambayan coalition, which includes retired Justices Conchita Carpio-Morales and Carpio, previously filed a motion for reconsideration, urging the SC to issue a status quo ante order and set the case for oral arguments. 

For his part, Christian Monsod, one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, expressed hope that the SC will seriously look into the issues raised in the MRs.

“I hope that the SC will look seriously into these issues raised and will judge accordingly, independently, and according to their conscience kasi kailangan ‘yun,” he said in an interview with Balitanghali.—AOL/VBL, GMA Integrated News