The Supreme Court Has Voided the Impeachment Case Vs VP Sara Duterte. What Happens Next?

The country’s highest court has ruled that the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte is unconstitutional, saying lawmakers failed to afford the official due process. 

Based on the Supreme Court decision published on July 25, the tribunal’s associate justices cited a provision in the 1987 Constitution that bars the filing of multiple impeachment complaints against an incumbent official in the same year.

The tribunal added that the Senate did not have jurisdiction over the impeachment raps against Duterte, but added that its ruling does not clear the vice president from the charges filed against her. It noted that new impeachment complaints against the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte may only be filed on February 6 next year.

“Our fundamental law is clear, the end does not justify the means…there is a right way to do the right things at the right time,” based on a copy of the ruling. Associate Justices Benjamin Caguiao and Maria Filomena Singh had inhibited themselves from deciding on the SC case.

The SC decision comes just as the VP's brother, Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte is embroiled in his own controversy involving PNP Chief Nicolas Torre.

Baste Duterte and Torre were set to face off in a bizarre charity boxing event on Sunday to settle their beef. The mayor challenged the PNP Chief to a fistfight, which the latter accepted.

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"The Court said it is not absolving Vice President Duterte from any of the charges against her, but any subsequent impeachment complaint may only be filed starting February 6, 2026,” Supreme Court Spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting told a news briefing on Friday.

Duterte had four impeachment complaints against her with only the last one leading to her impeachment at the House.

The SC case was filed by the Vice President and in it she cited a violation in the Constitutionally provided one year rule.

"When I moved for the dismissal of the impeachment complaint vs VP Sara, I was guided by the Holy Spirit," Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, a close Duterte ally, said in a statement.

"When the SC ruled it as unconstitutional I’m sure they were guided also by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit defeated the forces of evil! Hallelujah!"

Three of the complaints were filed by private citizens in December last year, while the fourth one came about via a House resolution last February 5.

So where do legislators go from here amid the burgeoning feud between both Marcoses and Dutertes?

“Two things come to mind for now," Michael Henry Yusingco, a constitutionalist and senior fellow at the Ateneo Policy Center, said in an online exchange. "First, the House of Representatives must abide by the decision. They should just accept this and move on with their work. I expect the Senate to do the same. To disregard the Supreme Court decision would lead to a constitutional and political crises. This will not be good for the country.”

He added that this development is a win for the Vice President and Duterte is likely to harp on this amid her continuing feud with the Lower House. 

“She will likely heighten her political offensive against the Marcos administration and its allies in the House of Representatives,” Yusingco said. 

The daughter of the tough-talking leader had been impeached by the Lower House after threatening the life of incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. The trial is set to proceed amid the Duterte clan’s feud with the Marcoses, after they ran on a joint ticket in the last national elections in 2022.

Including Duterte, five other top Philippine officials have been impeached, with only Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona eventually getting convicted.

“Once again the Supreme Court will be faced by questions of credibility/nonpartisanship, which is a bit difficult when it is already experiencing an accessibility problem from the public,” Hansley Juliano, a political science lecturer at the Ateneo de Manila University, said in a Facebook message.

“The current situation runs the risk of opening new avenues for opposition against the Dutertes, and whether there is a need for alignment with the Marcos Jr. administration to do so.”