(UPDATE) MANILA, Philippines — Lawyers of Vice President Sara Duterte have asked the Supreme Court to stop her impeachment trial, arguing that the proceedings were being conducted under a presiding officer whose authority was derived from what they described as a constitutionally invalid Senate action.
In a "Very Urgent Manifestation with Motion" filed on July 6, 2026, the same day the impeachment trial formally opened, the petitioners said developments during the opening session confirmed what they called the "constitutional infirmity" of the Senate's composition and leadership.
The trial commenced with Sen. Francis Escudero presiding after 12 of the 21 senators present voted to elect him as presiding officer.
The motion challenged the Senate's June 3, 2026 proceeding that amended Rule 2 of the Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials to allow the election of a presiding officer in impeachment cases not involving the President.
According to the petitioners, the amendment was unconstitutional because the Senate allegedly acted without a quorum, failed to comply with the required one-day advance notice before amending its rules, and adopted the change while sitting in its ordinary legislative capacity instead of as an impeachment court, which had already adopted its own rules on May 18, 2026.
The petitioners argued that only 12 of the Senate's 24 members were recorded present during the June 3 session, which they said did not constitute the majority required by the Constitution. They maintained that, without a quorum, the Senate could only adjourn or compel the attendance of absent members.
They also cited the deliberations of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, arguing that the framers intended the Senate President to preside over all impeachment trials except those involving the President, in which the Chief Justice presides.
Quoting the motion, the petitioners said, "The express designation of the Chief Justice as presiding officer only when the President is on trial necessarily excludes other impeachment trials."
During the opening of the impeachment trial on July 6, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano questioned Escudero's authority to preside through a point of order. Escudero overruled the objection, saying the resolution amending Rule 2 had been duly approved and that any challenge should be resolved either in a Senate plenary session or by the Supreme Court.
The petitioners argued that "institutional integrity, jurisdictional regularity, and due process all require that impeachment proceedings be conducted only under a presiding officer whose authority to preside is beyond serious constitutional question."
They also noted that "even Members of the Senate are unable to agree on so fundamental a question as who may validly preside over the trial of petitioner Vice President."
The motion asks the Supreme Court to issue a status quo ante order stopping the impeachment proceedings while it resolves the constitutional issues surrounding the authority of the presiding officer. It also seeks a ruling that the trial may proceed only under validly adopted impeachment rules and a presiding officer whose authority is free from what the petitioners described as "serious and unresolved constitutional challenge."
The petition was filed by the Law Firm of Torreon and Partners on behalf of several petitioners led by lawyers Israelito Torreon, Resci Angelli Rizada-Nolasco, Martin Delgra III, and others.
"Petitioners do not ask this Honorable Court to choose Senate officers, manage ordinary legislative business, or supervise the internal politics of the Senate," the motion stated. "Petitioners ask only that the Court determine whether the impeachment trial is being conducted before a tribunal whose presiding officer derives authority from constitutionally valid proceedings."
The impeachment trial continues while the Supreme Court has yet to act on the motion.
'Waste of paper'
Meanwhile, the House prosecution team said that while everyone has the right to question the installation of a new presiding officer for the trial instead of the Senate President, the petition filed before the Supreme Court by the Duterte camp was a "waste of paper."
In a press briefing at the Senate, House Impeachment Spokesman and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said that no one was stopping anyone from filing a petition at the Supreme Court to question the proceedings.
He, however, said that all issues have been resolved on the first day of the trial.
"This is an internal rule of the Senate. The impeachment trial is an internal or exclusive power given by the Senate. So, it logically follows that the members of the court, the senators sitting in the court, will also decide who will be their presiding officer," Adiong said.
Meanwhile, House Prosecutor and Bicol Saro Partylist Rep. Terry Ridon said petition was just a "waste of paper" and dismissed them as being more identified with the respondent, Vice President Sara Duterte.
