PAGKATAPOS ng ilang oras ng pagdedebate, nagdesisyon ang Senado na i-archive o isantabi ang kasong impeachment laban kay Vice President Sara Duterte, kasunod ng pinakahuling desisyon ng Supreme Court (SC).
Labing-siyam na senador, kasama si Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, ang bomoto sa “motion to archive” ni Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva samantalang apat ang bomoto laban dito — sina Senate Minority Leader Tito Sotto, Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros at senators Bam Aquino at Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.
Tanging si Sen. Panfilo Lacson ang nag-abstain sa pagboto, at sinabing, “I would rather wait, not preempt, the final ruling of the High Court.”
Mungkahing dismissal ni Sen Marcoleta
Binuksan ni Sen. Rodante Marcoleta ang diskusyon sa isang privilege speech kung saan inilatag niya ang pinakahuling ruling ng Supreme Court na nagsasabing “unconstitutional” ang impeachment complaint kay VP Sara.
Idinagdag pa niya na sa ilalim ng 20th Congress, walang hurisdiksyon ang Senado dito. Dahil dito, iminungkahi niya ang “dismissal” sa kaso ng impeachment.
Aniya, “Mr. President, when the Supreme Court negates the actions of a co-equal branch of government, it does not assert its superiority. Instead, it upholds the supremacy and the dominance of the fundamental law of the land, the Constitution.
“And so the Supreme Court has already spoken. The last arbiter of law, it says the complaint is unconstitutional, is void ab initio, is violative of due process. The Senate never acquired jurisdiction over this.It is immediately executory.
“On that note, Mr. President, I respectfully move that the impeachment complaint be dismissed. I so move, Mr. President.”
Motion to table ni Sen Sotto
Pagkatapos ng privilege speech ni Marcoleta at mungkahi nitong i-dismiss ang impeachment case ni VP Sara, kaagad na tinutulan ito ni Senate Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III at sinabing hindi pa ito final dahil nag-file ng Motion for Reconsideration ang House of Representatives noong Lunes, Agosto 4, 2025.
“The decision is not yet final. A Motion for Reconsideration was filed by the House of Representatives just last Monday,” sabi ni Sotto sa kanyang interpellation. “Why are we rushing to dismiss the case?”
Sa halip nagmungkahi si Sen Sotto ng motion to table at tinutulan ang motion to dismiss ni Marcoleta.
Pagkaraan ng mahabang paliwanagan, inamyendahan ni Sen. Villanueva ang mungkahi ni Marcoleta.
Motion to archive ni Sen Villanueva
Ang mosyon ni Villanueva ay amendment sa orihinal na panukala ni Sen. Marcoleta na i-dismiss ang kaso matapos ikatuwiran ang desisyon ng SC na “unconstitutional” ito.
“Adhering to the immediately executory decision rendered by the Supreme Court en banc on 25th July, 2025, which held among others that the Articles of Impeachment are null and void ab initio and that the Senate did not acquire jurisdiction over the same, I move to transfer the Articles of Impeachment in relation to case 0022011 entitled, “In the matter of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte” to the archives. I so move, Mr. President,” sabi ni Villanueva.
Dagdag pa ni Villanueva, “Kaya po, sa liwanag ng ating Saligang Batas, at bilang paggalang sa pasya ng Korte Suprema — habang kinikilala na may nakabinbing Motion for Reconsideration na isinampa ng House of Representatives, and in adhering to the immediately executory decision rendered by the Supreme Court: I vote to transfer the articles of impeachment to the Archives.
Paliwanag si Senate President Escudero
Samantala, ipinaliwanag ni Escudero na maaari namang ibalik ang impeachment case mula sa archive kapag nagbago ang desisyon ng SC.
“If the Supreme Court reverses itself, however possible or impossible that may be, then we will entertain a motion to bring it out of the archives and act accordingly again in obedience to the Supreme Court decision,” paliwanag ni Escudero bago pagbotohan ang mosyon ni Villanueva.
Ang mga bomoto ng yes ay nagpaliwanag na ang kanilang boto ay bilang pagrespeto sa Supreme Court bilang “final arbiter” ng mga legal na katanungan at respeto sa rule of law at due process. Bomoto ng yes ang mga senador na sina Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Ronald Dela Rosa, Sherwin Gatchalian, Bong Go, Imee Marcos, Robin Padilla, magkapatid na Camille at Mark Villar, at dating Senate President Miguel Zubiri.