JUST as the House of Representatives panel conducting impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte is about to receive copies of her financial records from various government agencies, another group of lawyers filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to stop what they called ‘the ongoing mini-trial’ being conducted by the House against her.
The latest petition, which was filed by lawyers Hue Jyro U. Go, Micah Lorelle P. de Guzman, and Jake Leoncini, also sought to nullify all the actions and compulsory processes, including the issuance of subpoenas, by the House Committee on Justice compelling several agencies to submit documents to support the impeachment complaints.
‘The successive issuances of subpoenas, reception of materials outside the complaints, and resort to third-party record-gathering reveal an unmistakable attempt to search for, assemble, and construct evidence not found in the complaints themselves,’ the 34-page petition read. ‘These acts constitute nothing less than a fishing expedition for evidence,’ it added.
The petitioners argued that the House of Representatives exceeded its constitutional authority under Article XI, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution when it took cognizance of the impeachment complaints.
The petitioners further argued that the House Committee on Justice has embarked on a campaign of ‘case build-up’ instead of confining itself to the task of evaluating the impeachment complaints as mandated under the Constitution.
‘The power to determine sufficiency in form, sufficiency in substance, and the existence of sufficient grounds does not include the power to manufacture those grounds by searching beyond the complaint for evidence that was not properly alleged, incorporated, or appended in the first place,’ the petitioners pointed out.
The petitioners also questioned the relevance to the impeachment complaints of the documents being sought by the House committee through its subpoenas such as Duterte’s statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs), records from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) for covered and suspicious transactions from 2006 to 2025 and the admission of the supplemental affidavit of witness Ramil Madriaga, an accused in a kidnap-for-ransom case.
‘The impeachment complaints rest primarily on allegations concerning confidential funds disbursement, liquidation irregularities, and alleged deficiencies in acknowledgment receipts and COA [Commission on Audit] submissions,’ the petitioners said.
‘However, the subpoenas issued and sought extend far beyond these defined subject matters, encompassing SALNs spanning decades, AMLC covered and suspicious transaction reports, and the banking activities of both the Vice President and her spouse over an expansive timeframe,’ they added.
Furthermore, the petitioners said the House impeachment proceedings violate the principle of fair play and the requirement of due process based on the recent ruling of the SC in Duterte v House of Representatives.
The latest petition brought to four the number of petitions that have been filed before the SC seeking to enjoin the House impeachment proceedings against the Vice President, The first petition was filed by a group of lawyers led by Israelito Torreon which was followed by another petition filed by the Vice President herself.
The third petition was filed by One Bangsamoro Movement, Commission on Education (CHEd) Commissioner Ronald Adamat and several lawyers.
All four petitions prayed for Court’s issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) to immediately enjoin the House impeachment proceedings.