Makabayan bloc set to file SC appeal on Sara Duterte impeachment

MANILA, Philippines — The Makabayan bloc is set to file its appeal on Thursday, challenging the Supreme Court’s (SC) dismissal of the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte, in a bid to keep the case alive despite the Senate’s vote to archive the articles of impeachment.

In a press conference, Kabataan Rep. Renee Co and ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio confirmed that they would e-file their motion for reconsideration on Thursday and submit a physical copy of the appeal on Friday.

They would be the third group outside the House of Representatives to seek intervention in the SC's July 25 ruling, which declared the fourth impeachment complaint endorsed by 215 lawmakers as unconstitutional.

Two other civil society groups led by former President Benigno Aquino III's nephew Francisco Dee, 1Sambayan, and Taumbayan Ayaw sa Magnanakaw at Abusado Network filed their appeals on Aug. 1 and Aug. 5, respectively.

READ: Senate votes to archive Sara Duterte impeachment case

“We welcome everybody who wishes to intervene [in this complaint], because we want everybody to see what happened to our money and what happened to our processes to hold accountable public officials who face charges,” Co said.

“We need to see what happens when more people are involved in this case. We need to show we are angry about this,” she added.

Former Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel and former ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro endorsed the second impeachment complaint filed against Duterte on December 4, 2024, which the Supreme Court cited as the basis for ruling that the fourth impeachment complaint—endorsed by 215 House lawmakers—violated the one-year bar rule.

Like the other three complaints, the Makabayan-endorsed complaint accused Duterte of culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, and other high crimes.

These all stem from her alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds during her concurrent tenure as vice president and education secretary from 2022 to 2024.

The House prosecution panel appealed the SC ruling last Monday and maintained that they had transmitted the fourth complaint before they had archived and dismissed the first three complaints.

READ: Due process for Sara Duterte? Trial will give her that, says Bucoy

For Tinio, the Senate should have waited for the SC’s final disposition on the House appeal—but instead “showed their true colors and stances” on the impeachment case when it voted 19-4-1 to archive the articles of impeachment.

“They kept saying that the impeachment complaint against Duterte was mere politicking, and one even said that if they (the House) really disliked Sara, then they should defeat her in 2028 instead,” he said. “But what this really tells us is that they were belittling, setting aside the legitimate issues surrounding her confidential funds.”

For Co, the Senate's vote to archive the articles effectively dooms the senators “to go down in Philippine history as cowards.”

“This is another consequence of Uniteam 2.0,” she added, referring to President Marcos Jr. and Duterte’s now-broken tandem in the 2022 presidential elections. “If they burn, if Uniteam burns, everyone goes down with them.”/mcm

(2025/08/07-13:19)

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