Chairperson of House Committee on Public Accounts and Bicol Saro Partylist Representative Terry Ridon called out Senators who violated inter-parliamentary courtesy in their “impeachment vote speech” during the plenary session on Wednesday, August 6, 2025.
In the press conference that happened on Friday, August 8, Ridon said in his opening remarks that it is important to mention some issues from the archiving of the impeachment proceedings against Vice President (VP) Sara Duterte, as there were some strong words spoken.
“Ang atin pong pagkakaalam ito po ay dapat pagpapaliwanag ng mga boto, kung bakit po kailangang i-archive o bakit hindi dapat i-archive ito pong impeachment proceedings laban kay Vice President Sara Duterte,” Ridon expressed.
“Pero malaking bahagi po ng mga talumpati ay tungkol po sa mga pagtingin, kuro-kuro, ng mga ilang senador, liderato ng senado, laban po sa liderato ng House of Representatives,” he continued.
He said that the Senate and Congress are equal and separate, which means the Senate does not care about the internal affairs of the House of Representatives, and vice versa. This dictates that “this is the principle of Inter-parliamentary Courtesy.”
“Malaking pagbasag po yung ilan sa mga talumpati dahil meron na pong mga binabanggit na mga masasakit na mga salita at pagpapangalan, ibig sabihin “name calling” laban po sa liderato ng House,” he said.
“Ang totoo naman ho yung impeachment proceedings ay hindi po tungkol sa mga personalidad, hindi po ito tungkol sa ambisyon ng iilan, kundi ito po ay usapin ng katotohanan, ito po ay usapin ng accountability,” he added.
Ridon also reminded that the Impeachment is not against an official, but a matter of accountability for the unexplained spending of P612.5 million in confidential funds and threats to the lives of the President, First Lady, and House Speaker. Whether it’s VP Sara Duterte or not, the impeachment case will proceed as it is not about being a pro-Duterte or anti-Duterte.
He ended his remarks by assuring that the Congress will wait for the Supreme Court's decision on the pending motion for reconsideration before considering the refiling of the articles of impeachment in February 2026.
