A group led by lawyer Israelito Torreon has filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to stop the impeachment proceedings of the House Committee on Justice against Vice President Sara Duterte.
The group submitted a Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition with a request for a temporary restraining order, asking the high court to nullify actions taken by the committee chaired by Congresswoman Gerville Luistro.
Although Torreon previously served as legal counsel for Duterte in several cases, he clarified that the petition was filed in their capacity as taxpayers and not as members of the vice president’s legal team.
According to the petitioners, impeachment is a personal accountability process rather than an institutional conflict, and it should be handled strictly according to constitutional requirements.
The lawyers argued that subpoenas and requests for additional documents should not be used to fill gaps in impeachment complaints that, in their view, should have already been dismissed during the threshold stage.
They also compared how the House committee handled impeachment complaints filed against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., saying stricter standards were applied in those cases compared to what they described as more lenient acceptance of complaints against Duterte.
Lawyer Vic Rodriguez also expressed the view that if any official should face impeachment proceedings, it should be President Marcos rather than Duterte.
Torreon explained that the petition was filed by taxpayers who have a direct interest in protecting due process. He added that they went directly to the Supreme Court because they believed their concerns would not be entertained if filed first before the House of Representatives.
