Sara Duterte asks Supreme Court to stop impeachment
MANILA, Philippines (Updated March 4, 2025; 9:28 a.m.) — Vice President Sara Duterte filed a petition before the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of her impeachment.
Supreme Court spokesperson Camille Ting confirmed through a message to reporters that Duterte filed the petition before the high court on Tuesday, February 18.
The petition was filed by Duterte's lawyers from the Fortun, Narvasa, and Salazar law firm Tuesday.
“The Vice President, for her part, trusts that the Supreme Court will exercise its constitutional duty to safeguard democratic principles and uphold the rule of law,” Fortun, Narvasa and Salazar law firm’s statement read.
The petition also revealed that one of the vice president's lawyers is her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.
One of the requests made by Sara before the high court is the nullification of the fourth impeachment complaint, filed by 215 members of the House of Representatives on February 5.
Hoping for the impeachment complaint's nullification, Sara asked the Supreme Court to issue a prohibition, preventing the Senate from acting on the complaint.
“As a consequence, issue a writ of prohibition to enjoin the Senate of the Philippines from acting on the Fourth Impeachment Complaint due to violation of the One-Year Bar under the aforesaid Constitutional provision,” Sara's petition read.
Sara filed the petition the same day 29 lawyers from Mindanao also filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to stop the impeachment against the vice president, claiming it was defective.
Israelito Torreon, who also serves as one of the legal counsels for detained doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy, was among those 29 lawyers.
The lawyers argued that the impeachment complaints filed in the House of Representatives lacked proper verification.
In addition to their main petition, they requested the high court to issue a temporary restraining order to suspend the impeachment process if granted.
These petitions come just days after lawyer Catalino Generillo Jr., former special counsel for the Presidential Commission on Good Government, filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to compel the Senate to immediately convene an impeachment tribunal.
What went before. On February 5, the House of Representatives moved forward with the impeachment of Duterte, with 215 members supporting the fourth complaint against her.
The charges include the alleged misuse of confidential funds and issuing death threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
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Erratum: An earlier version of this article indicated that Torreon is representing the vice president. This has been revised to reflect the correction.
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