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Jean Mangaluz - Philstar.com
August 8, 2025 | 1:30pm
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. delivers his statement regarding his State Visits in India and answers questions on pressing issues from the press during the Kapihan with the Media at the Taj West End in Bengaluru, India, on August 8, 2025, before he returned to the Philippines.
Noel B. Pabalate / PPA Pool
BENGALURU, India — Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment case was dismissed on technicalities, but whether she is guilty or not remains unresolved, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday, August 8.
Following the Senate's decision to archive the impeachment case, Marcos said that the Supreme Court ruling declaring the raps against Duterte unconstitutional did not acquit her of any wrongdoing.
"There has been no trial. So the merits of the case have not been examined, tried, adjudicated, argued, discussed. So accountability just doesn't come into it," Marcos said in a media interview on the sidelines of his state visit to India.
He explained that the high court’s decision addressed only procedural issues in the House of Representatives.
"The people need to understand: this is a procedural question," Marcos said. "The court did not decide on the rightness or wrongness of the individual."
Marcos again distanced himself from the impeachment process, admitting that some lawmakers had sought his opinion.
"I keep telling you, the executive has no role in this. The president has no role. I'm an impeachable officer," he said.
Asked how he would address Duterte's standing corruption allegations, Marcos said the Commission on Audit would continue its work and Congress would soon begin budget deliberations, where any issues could be brought up.
"We have all of the mechanisms that are available to us in terms of checks and balances. All we have to do is try and get some answers. We have to make very, very clear to everyone that the Supreme Court decision does not have any bearing on the rightness or wrongness of the merits of the impeachment case," he said.
"They're not saying that there was no wrongdoing. Neither are they saying there was wrongdoing," Marcos added.
Both the Supreme Court and the Senate ruled in Duterte’s favor when it came to her impeachment, citing technical lapses in the House.
However, legal experts and advocates have criticized what they described as bias in the Senate’s decision to halt the trial after exploiting legal gray areas to benefit Duterte.
