Duterte supporters take case against impeachment to Supreme Court

MANILA - Lawyers supporting Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte filed the first legal challenge against her impeachment at the Supreme Court on Feb 18, saying it had been unconstitutionally rushed through without proper oversight.

Ms Duterte, one-time ally of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, is facing a Senate trial on charges of “violation of the constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption and other high crimes”.

Among the crimes outlined is an alleged assassination plot against Mr Marcos.

The Feb 18 filing seeks to toss the impeachment and prevent the Senate from proceeding with a trial, citing the lack of time devoted to its evaluation in the House of Representatives, where it was introduced and passed the same day.

“There was no proper deliberation. There was no proper discussion,” lawyer Israelito Torreon, one of 29 petitioners, said outside a venue near the court.

“The VP was not even summoned to answer for the alleged allegations ... so there was no due process at all.”

He added that Ms Duterte had “nothing to do” with the filing while rejecting the notion it represented “last ditch legal gymnastics”.

“This is a legitimate attempt on the part of the people in order to stop a constitutionally void... impeachment complaint,” he said.

The battle between the Marcos and Duterte dynasties has dominated early campaigning for the May mid-term elections, when a dozen Senate seats that could determine the makeup of the vice-president’s tribunal are up for grabs.

Political analyst Richard Heydarian called the Feb 18 filing an attempt “to buy time and momentum”.

“It’s a sign they are not fully confident with surviving a prospective Senate trial,” he said.

Ms Duterte has insisted that the assassination charge, stemming from an expletive-laden broadcast in which she claimed to have instructed a man to kill Mr