Various groups and individuals, including lawyers and experts, condemned the Supreme Court for deciding that the impeachment of Sara Duterte as vice president is “unconstitutional” because the House of Representatives violated its own impeachment process.

They protested on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City to express their disappointment over the decision.

“The court’s decision is dangerous because it makes holding public officials accountable difficult for ordinary citizens. It encourages corruption and impunity at the highest levels of government,” Bagong Alyansang Makabayan president Teddy Casino said.

He said that the Supreme Court mistakenly viewed the sequence of the four impeachment complaints’ filing and that it is false that the House of Representatives violated the prohibition on filing successive impeachment complaints within one year. Although the first three impeachment complaints were submitted to the Justice committee, Congress did not act on them. Only the fourth complaint, submitted in February, is considered “initiated” or advanced by Congress.

Experts explained that the Supreme Court erred in saying that Congress should have given Duterte the chance to answer the impeachment case filed against her and signed by more than one-third of the lawmakers. This process is not provided for in the constitution.

“The Supreme Court’s decisions are not always correct. Throughout history, the Supreme Court has made many decisions contrary to the interests of the people,” ACT Teachers Party-list stated. The party called the logic of the decision “acrobatics” just to invalidate the impeachment. It also said that this is a major blow against Filipinos who seek accountability from government officials.

“Sara Duterte stole more than 600 million. If she is not held accountable, how much more about those who stole even larger amounts of public funds? This only shows the whole system’s impunity and that the people must destroy such a system,” Kilusang Mayo Uno’s Jerome Adonis asserted.