Filipino Religious condemn ‘betrayal’ as Supreme Court blocks impeachment

‘The Supreme Court has deepened the growing perception that the law no longer serves the poor and the powerless, but protects only those with influence, pedigree, and proximity to power.’

Religious superiors accused the Philippines’ Supreme Court of committing the “supreme betrayal” of the Filipino people by abandoning the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte. 

“At a time when the public is crying out for truth and accountability, the Supreme Court chose silence over scrutiny, technicalities over transparency, and impunity over integrity. It has failed in its solemn duty to be the last bastion of justice,” said the justice commission of the Conference of Major Superiors in the Philippines (CMSP).

“By shielding the Vice President from a legitimate process of accountability, the Supreme Court has deepened the growing perception that the law no longer serves the poor and the powerless, but protects only those with influence, pedigree, and proximity to power. The timing, the rationale, and the implication of this decision reek of complicity and cowardice.”

The CMSP issued the statement after the Supreme Court, in a unanimous vote of 13-0 on 25 July, said the House of Representatives violated the constitution when it impeached Duterte on 5 February. The court cited a rule that only one impeachment complaint can be lodged against an impeachable official in a span of one year.  

The court ruling means the next phase of the impeachment process – Duterte’s trial at the Senate impeachment court – can no longer proceed.

Despite the halt to the impeachment, the CMSP challenged the 47-year-old Duterte to make herself accountable. 

“To Vice President Sara Duterte: if your hands are clean, why fear accountability? If your leadership is just, why evade the truth? The people deserve answers, not legal shields,” it said. 

The Archbishop of Manila Cardinal Jose Advincula did not address Duterte’s impeachment when he led a recent Mass for lawmakers, but challenged members of Congress to always keep God in mind. 

“My dear friends in the legislative service, may you always remember that you are not only representatives of the Filipino people in the halls of government. More loftily than this, you are also representatives of the Filipino people before God,” Advincula said at a Mass ahead of the opening of the twentieth Philippine Congress.

“Therefore, may you ensure that every law that you create and every resolution that you pass is a prayer before God, an expression of the Filipino people’s aspirations and values, an expression of the people’s faith in God’s providence, an expression of the people’s desire to approximate their lives to God’s will,” the cardinal said.

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