SC ruling on impeachment sparks accountability fears

Legal experts express concern that a recent Supreme Court ruling redefining the initiation of impeachment proceedings could be exploited to file baseless complaints, thereby hindering genuine accountability efforts.

The Supreme Court recently deemed the impeachment articles against Vice President Sara Duterte unconstitutional, citing a violation of the constitutional provision that prohibits initiating impeachment proceedings against the same official more than once within a year.

The ruling stems from the fact that four impeachment complaints were filed against the Vice President in the House of Representatives.

The first three complaints, filed in December 2024, were archived and considered terminated or dismissed on February 5, 2025, when the House endorsed the fourth complaint.

The Supreme Court stated that even unacted-upon complaints, if not forwarded to the Committee on Justice, already constitute the initiation of impeachment proceedings.

Consequently, the Court determined that the fourth complaint, which was adopted and sent to the Senate on the same day, contravened the one-year prohibition rule.