Vice President Sara Duterte has formally petitioned the Supreme Court to stop the House of Representatives from moving forward with impeachment proceedings against her, arguing that the process is unconstitutional.
In a 58-page petition for certiorari dated March 30, Duterte requested the High Court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the House of Representatives and its Committee on Justice.
She contended that the complaints filed against her fall outside the scope permitted by the Constitution.
“There is a reason why impeachment is the road less travelled – it is often the wrong road. No less than the Constitution reserves this sui generis process to the vilest and most treasonous of grounds committed by an exclusive list of impeachable government officials,” the petition stated.
Duterte further warned that allowing the proceedings to continue would undermine constitutional safeguards.
“As meticulously and unmistakably demonstrated in this petition, the impeachment proceedings against the petitioner are unconstitutional and continuing with them will result in a miscarriage of justice and a mockery of processes that our Constitution and laws have always aimed to protect,” the filing read.
Named as respondents in the petition are House Speaker Faustino Dy III, Justice Committee chair Gerville Luistro, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, and the 14 complainants behind the impeachment cases.
Her legal team also sought a writ of preliminary injunction to prevent any hearings, investigations, or compulsory processes related to the complaints.
Additionally, Duterte asked the Court to declare unconstitutional Sections 7 and 8 of the 19th Congress’ Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings, as well as the committee’s internal guidelines.
The petition further called for a permanent injunction to nullify the impeachment complaints filed by Saballa and Cabrera, and to bar both chambers of Congress from taking any further action on the matter.