FILE

A Quezon City Regional Trial Court has dismissed a petition filed by lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio seeking to stop the impeachment proceedings against his wife, Vice President Sara Duterte.

In a ruling dated May 6, Quezon City RTC Branch 81 said the judiciary cannot interfere with the constitutional power of the House of Representatives to handle impeachment cases.

The petition also sought a writ of preliminary injunction against Speaker of the House Faustino Dy III, House Committee on Justice chairperson Gerville Luistro, and Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Charlito Martin Mendoza.

However, the court denied the request and dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction.

“The petition for prohibition is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction. The prayer for issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction is DENIED,” the ruling stated.

The five-page order was written by Presiding Judge Madonna Echiverri.

Carpio’s petition attempted to block the House Committee on Justice from enforcing subpoenas and continuing actions related to the impeachment complaints against Duterte, particularly after lawmakers sought tax records and other financial documents allegedly connected to the vice president and her husband.

But the court ruled that the House panel was simply carrying out powers granted under the Constitution.

“Respondents do not usurp but are in fact, as members of HCOJ are, by law, constituted to determine the sufficiency of the impeachment complaint against the Vice-President and eventually the determination of probable cause for the filing of the case to the Senate,” the order stated.

The court also cited Article XI of the 1987 Constitution, which gives the House of Representatives the exclusive authority to initiate impeachment cases.

It further upheld the subpoena powers of the House committee, saying the panel has the authority to compel the submission of documents and testimonies as part of impeachment proceedings.

“Thus, the issuance of the subpoena duces tecum ad testificandum is an inherent power of the Committee, which is validly created by law, to carry out this constitutional mandate effectively in the conduct of its hearing,” the court said.


The RTC also rejected Carpio’s argument that the House panel had no authority over him or documents allegedly connected to him and Duterte.

“Prohibition issues only against usurpers or those who exercise power which have not been vested by law,” the ruling added.

The court also said injunctions cannot be used to stop the House panel from performing its constitutional duties.

“To enjoin the public individuals in the performance of their duty in the determination of the sufficiency of the impeachment complaint is to prevent said body to exercise its quasi-judicial or ministerial functions,” the order stated.

In another part of the ruling, the RTC dismissed Carpio’s request for the court to recognize news articles and YouTube videos related to the House hearings as evidence.

“Newspaper articles amount to ‘hearsay evidence, twice removed’ and are therefore not only inadmissible but without any probative value at all whether objected to or not,” the court said.

The RTC also pointed out that the petition should have been filed before the Supreme Court of the Philippines because the respondents were part of a co-equal branch of government.

“In the case at bench, the respondents are acting in the official capacity as part of the HCOJ, a co-equal branch of the government hence, the case at bench should have been filed with the Supreme Court,” the order stated.

The ruling came after the House Committee on Justice unanimously found probable cause in the impeachment complaints against Duterte and approved the Articles of Impeachment for plenary voting scheduled on May 11.