House panel chair: SC didn't clear VP Sara Duterte of impeachment allegations

The Supreme Court did not absolve Vice President Sara Duterte of any impeachable offense, House committee on justice chairperson and Batangas Second District Rep. Gerville Luistro said Monday.

Luistro made the statement during the first day of deliberation on the merits of the three impeachment complaints against the Vice President.

“There are claims circulating that these impeachment complaints are merely recycled accusations already dismissed by the Supreme Court. Let us correct that. Firmly and factually, the Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of the allegations. It did not conduct a trial. It did not weigh [on the] evidence [against the Vice President]. It did not absolve anyone of wrongdoing,” Luistro said in her opening statement.

“The Court itself clarified that its ruling was limited to the constitutional one-year bar rule, it emphasized that it did not absolve the Vice President of any of the charges. Those are the Supreme Court’s own clarification. To suggest, therefore, that the accusations have already been resolved on the merits is legally incorrect,” she added.

Luistro said that the Supreme Court, in its July 2025 and January 2026 decisions, ruled that the 2025 impeachment complaint filed against the Vice President was illegal only because of technicality: the violation of the one-year bar rule and the violation of the Vice President’s right to due process.

“Malinaw sa desisyon ng Korte Suprema na ang naging pasya nito ay nakatuon lamang sa one year bar rule. Isang usaping teknikal. Hindi ito paghahatol sa nilalaman ng mga reklamo. Hindi ito deklarasyon na walang sala ang Bise Presidente,” she added.

(The High Court's decision is clear: it only focused on the  one-year bar rule. A technical issue occurred, and there was no declaration of the Vice President's innocence.)

Luistro also underscored that the impeachment process is not a matter of choice for House members but a constitutional mandate.

“That mandate is not optional. It is not seasonal. It is not subject to fatigue. It is a duty,” she said.

Having said that, Luistro said that the House will decide on the impeachment complaints against the Vice President based on merits, not on popularity.

“Impeachment is a constitutional process — not a social media contest. Hindi hashtag ang magpapasya dito. Hindi meme ang maghahatol,” the chair said.

(Hashtags, memes won’t decide this case.)

“Impeachment cannot be built on rumor. If we refuse to examine impeachment complaints properly before us, we are not preserving stability — we are weakening accountability. No one is above the Constitution. Not the President. Not the Vice President. Not the Senate. Not the House of Representatives,” Luistro said.

Vice President Duterte has denied any wrongdoing, and has been consistent in her position that the impeachment move against her is politically motivated. —AOL, GMA Integrated News