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Bella Cariaso - The Philippine Star
April 11, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — A lawyer said the House committee on justice should postpone its April 14 hearing on the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte while awaiting the decision of the Supreme Court.
In an interview with SMNI, Paolo Panelo, who serves as counsel of Duterte in the perjury case she filed against her alleged bagman Ramil Madriaga, said that while the high tribunal did not issue a temporary restraining order (TRO), the House panel should wait for further action of the SC.
“That’s (postpone impeachment proceedings) the prudent thing to do. When there is a litigant who goes to the Supreme Court but there’s no initial TRO, the lower court, in deference to the Supreme Court, postpones the hearings…,” Panelo said.
After repeatedly warning of a “bloodbath” if forced to defend herself in an impeachment trial, Duterte has again turned to the SC for help, this time to stop the justice committee of the House of Representatives from hearing the impeachment complaints against her.
In a 58-page petition, Duterte – through her lawyers – sought the SC’s issuance of a TRO to stop the hearing on her case.
She is also seeking a preliminary injunction against related proceedings “including any trial, mini-trial or so-called preliminary investigation, issuance and enforcement of compulsory processes and such other acts or incidents.”
Panelo, however, said that he expects the House justice committee to proceed with the hearings on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the latest survey on the impeachment case against the Vice President sends a clear and uncomfortable message for her camp that Filipinos want evidence, accountability and the truth – not noise, not excuses and not political theater, House deputy speaker and La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V said yesterday.
Ortega, endorser of the fourth impeachment complaint, issued the statement after the release of the latest WR Numero Philippine Public Opinion Monitor survey, which showed 42 percent said lawmakers should consider the opinion of the Filipino people when voting on the impeachment of Duterte, while 29 percent said it should be based on the strength or weakness of evidence.
“This destroys the false narrative that the public wants Congress to shut its eyes and walk away,” Ortega said. “The people want this process taken seriously. They want the facts examined. They want the evidence weighed. Moreover, they want accountability to prevail.”
The WR Numero survey was conducted from March 10 to 17, 2026 among 1,455 respondents nationwide, with a plus or minus 3 percent margin of error.
Blocking path to 2028?
Duterte supporters suspected the impeachment hearings against her by the House justice committee, and its possible outcome, might prevent her running for president in 2028.
The proceedings were “a blatant attempt to undermine Vice President Duterte’s credibility and block her path to 2028,” said Ronald Adamat, chairman of the Volunteers for Inday for President for Sustainable Development and co-convenor of the DDS Sara All Confederation, during a media briefing at Club Filipino in San Juan yesterday.
The Vice President announced she would seek the presidency in 2028 in mid-February this year, before the first and second impeachment complaints against her were set aside and the third and fourth ones were found sufficient in form and substance by the justice panel.
“We believe the committee has overstepped its bounds, abused its discretion and diluted the Constitution,” Adamat argued.
One Bangsamoro Movement national president Maulana Balangi shared Adamat’s sentiments, saying the impeachment cases against Duterte meant “political harassment” and a “tactic to prevent her from running in 2028.”
Adamat and Balangi were among a group of 14 people, including 12 lawyers, who filed a 92-page petition-in-intervention and an 11-page motion for leave of court to intervene before the SC last April 8 through electronic filing.
Following the process
Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua said yesterday the House of Representatives is strictly adhering to the proper impeachment process against Duterte as required by the SC.
“We strictly follow the right process mandated by the Constitution and the Supreme Court,” Chua, chairman of the House committee on good government and public accountability, said in a statement as he outlined the steps taken by the chamber in handling the complaints.
‘HOPE’ envelopes
Meanwhile, envelopes labeled “HOPE” submitted by former education undersecretary Gloria Jumamil Mercado have emerged as part of the documentary trail being sought by the House committee on justice in its impeachment proceedings against the Vice President.
In a subpoena ad testificandum et duces tecum, the panel directed Marivic Pareja, director of the House of Representatives Legislative Archives and Museum Management Service, to produce records, including materials linked to Mercado, ahead of the April 14 hearing.
The subpoena explicitly includes the turnover of “Affidavit of Undersecretary Gloria Jumamil Mercado and Envelopes labeled ‘HOPE’ submitted by Undersecretary Mercado.”
During a September 2024 hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability, Mercado, former head of procuring entity (HOPE), stated in her sworn affidavit that she allegedly received envelopes from then DepEd assistant secretary Sunshine Fajarda.
Mercado testified that Fajarda told her the envelopes came directly from Duterte. — Jose Rodel Clapano, Ghio Ong
