Senate Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III is standing firm in his view that the Supreme Court—particularly Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen—erred in declaring unconstitutional the Articles of Impeachment filed by the House of Representatives against Vice President Sara Duterte.
The former Senate president is the latest official to question the Supreme Court’s July 25 ruling, penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, which struck down as unconstitutional the so-called “third mode” of initiating impeachment—one that originates directly from the House of Representatives.
In both a recent interview and during a Senate session, Sotto argued that Leonen’s decision was based on a misinterpretation of congressional rules, particularly the assertion that the first three impeachment complaints filed in December 2024 were “archived” due to the “adjournment of the 19th Congress” on February 5, 2025.
“Meron akong hindi nagustuhan doon sa decision na sinasabi ni Justice Leonen,” Sotto said in a July 31 interview on the Facts First podcast.
“Particularly, sinabi niya na the three complaints were archived because of the adjournment of the 19th Congress. Mukhang unfamiliar si Justice Leonen sa rules ng Kongreso, which is found in the Constitution. Gusto ba niya amyendahin din ito?” he said.
Sotto stressed that February 5 was merely a legislative break, not the official sine die adjournment that ends a Congress. The 19th Congress, he pointed out, only officially adjourned on June 13, 2025.
“If there’s no adjournment sine die of the 19th Congress… wala naman na-archive. Doon sa House, walang naa-archive,” he said. “Kung may naa-archive ‘yan, isipin mo pag nag-break kami ng September, archive na lahat na naka-pending. Ibig sabihin niyan pagdating ng December break, archive na lahat. Mag-re-refile ka na naman?”
He added: “Anything that has been filed and discussed is never archived until adjournment sine die, which comes in the death of the Congress.”