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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Luistro: Senate can reopen VP Duterte impeachment if SC favors House MR

Luistro: Senate can reopen VP Duterte impeachment if SC favors House MR

Published Jan 25, 2026 04:10 pm

At A Glance

  • The Senate will be able to reopen its impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte if the Supreme Court (SC) rules in favor of the House of Representatives motion for reconsideration (MR) from the previous 19th Congress.
Vice President Sara Duterte (left), Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro (PPAB)
Vice President Sara Duterte (left), Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro (PPAB)


The Senate will be able to reopen its impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte if the Supreme Court (SC) rules in favor of the House of Representatives motion for reconsideration (MR) from the previous 19th Congress.
Thus, said Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro, chairperson of the House Committee on Justice, in a news forum over the weekend.
“If they (SC) will grant the MR, it means that we will be going back to the impeachment process. It means that the impeachment complaint archived in the Senate can be reinstated,” Luistro said.
The lawyer-congresswoman addressed the issue after questions were raised on how the high court’s timeline could affect impeachment guidelines, particularly if a ruling comes after key legislative dates being watched by both the House and the Senate.
During the 19th Congress, Duterte became the first Vice President to ever be impeached in the country’s history when over one-third of House members adopted in plenary an impeachment complaint against her.
The complaint, anchored on seven articles of impeachment, was directly submitted to the Senate on Feb. 5, 2025.
Later in July, the SC declared the complaint unconstitutional, even as the House waited on the Senate to carry out Duterte's impeachment trial. The House subsequently filed an MR, and the proceedings have been in limbo.
It is now the 20th Congress, and some groups are reportedly poised to file fresh impeachment complaints against the Vice President starting Feb. 6, or when the one-year prohibition on the filing of new complaints lapses.
“If the [MR] will be resolved on Feb. 7, siguro (maybe) the answer will be, 'It depends on the decision of the [SC],'” said Luistro, who was part of House prosecution team in the impeachment trial.
“But if the decision of the [SC] is to deny the [MR] it only means that the requirement of notice and hearing for the second mode of impeachment, the one filed by at least one-third, kahit hindi kailangan dumaan sa justice committee (even if it doesnt go through the justice committee), we need to follow the requirement of notice and hearing,” Luistro said.
“Because this is the way the first impeachment complaint against the Vice President was filed. It was filed under the second mode. And we can remember during that time there were more than 200 members of the House who signed and verified before the secretary general on the impeachment complaint,” recalled the Batangueña.
With the House now looking ahead to its procedures in the 20th Congress, Luistro also distinguished the second mode from the first mode of filing, and noted that the first mode follows the committee track--specifically, her committee.
The first mode entails an impeachment complaint that is filed in the House of Representative by either a House member, or by a private citizen and endorsed by a House member.
Asked if there will be legal issues with the SC ruling if an impeachment complaint is filed against Duterte under the first mode, Luistro said she sees no problem with the MR filed before the SC.
“Hindi po magiging issue ang pendency ng MR before the SC (The pendency of the MR before the SC will not be an issue),” Luistro noted.
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