Solon on VP Duterte impeachment: 1-year ban hasn't set in

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker who was tapped to be part of the prosecution panel for Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial maintains that the one-year ban on new complaints had not set in yet because the first three raps have not left the Office of the House Secretary General.

In an interview on Thursday, San Juan Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora said that the Supreme Court (SC) had already decided in Francisco v. House of Representatives that the one-year prohibition on the filing of new impeachment complaints will start only after the charges are forwarded to the House committee on justice.

Petitioners who want to stop the impeachment proceedings against Duterte are citing Paragraph 5 of Article XI, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution, which states that “no impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.”

“So the one-year ban hadn't set in, had not set in, because if we recall the case of Francisco versus House of Representatives, the one-year ban will start from what we have as a term which is initiation, whether the impeachment proceedings have been initiated and initiated under this Francisco case, means the filing of the complaint endorsed by a congressman and referred to the committee on justice,” Zamora said.

“So it is not the mere filing of a complaint that will trigger the one-year period within which to count before the next complaint will be considered as part.  So hindi pa po nag-set ‘yong one-year (So the one-year prohibition has not set in),” he added.

Zamora also maintained that the way the impeachment complaint was verified by 215 lawmakers and how the articles of impeachment were transmitted to the Senate, were regular.

This is contrary to the claims of petitioners who want Duterte’s impeachment trial stopped.

Two petitions seeking to stop the impeachment complaints were filed before the SC on Tuesday.

Mindanao-based lawyers asked the SC to stop the Senate from proceeding with the impeachment trial since the House supposedly did not observe the Constitution’s rules, which require it to act on filed impeachment complaints within 10 session days.

House Secretary General Reginald Velasco on Tuesday said the issue is already moot, as the three impeachment complaints that were not used have been sent to the archives.

Vice President Duterte herself, represented by allied lawyers including her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, also asked the SC on Tuesday to stop the impeachment proceedings.

Duterte’s petition was hinged on a supposed violation of constitutional provisions stating that only one impeachment complaint would be initiated against a sitting official per year.

On Wednesday, Velasco maintained that the House has complied with the 1987 Constitution’s provisions when lawmakers impeached Vice President Sara Duterte and sent the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

Duterte was impeached last February 5, 2025, after 215 House members filed and verified a fourth complaint.

The articles of impeachment were immediately sent to the Senate, as the Constitution states that a trial shall begin “forthwith” if the verified complaint was submitted by one-third of all House members.

(2025/02/20-23:07)