The Supreme Court’s (SC) decision to block Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial may be overturned, retired SC Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said.
During the Kapihan sa Manila Bay on Wednesday, July 30, RH Boy Gonzales reported that Carpio emphasized that the higher court’s decision is not yet final and that there is still a chance to overturn its jurisdiction to the Senate.
Carpio highlighted this as one of the reasons why the House of Representatives can still file a motion for reconsideration, adding that the Senate should continue taking action with the Vice President’s impeachment proceedings.
“It’s not yet final, it’s only executory, but not yet final because the House still has a motion for reconsideration. I would think that the Senate it has [a] hold in abeyance the action because it’s not yet final,” Carpio emphasized.
“Normally, you [would] act only when it’s final…there’s still a chance that it would be reversed or changed because there’s a motion for reconsideration,” he added.
Last week, the SC declared that the impeachment complaint against Duterte is unconstitutional, citing that it violated the one-year bar rule under Article XI, Section 3(5) of the Constitution and the right to due process enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
Meanwhile, Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero announced Wednesday, July 29, that the Senate impeachment court would decide on the SC’s impeachment ruling on the Vice President by August 6th.
After the Senate’s first caucus, Escudero said the plenary has yet to review the 97-page SC decision, excluding the concurring and separate opinions filed by five or six additional magistrates of the high court.
