SC ruling on Duterte impeachment not based on merits - Marcos

Metro Manila, Philippines - The Supreme Court's (SC) decision to void Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment case was not based on merits but only on procedural grounds, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said.

Marcos made this remark in an interview with the media in India on Friday, Aug. 8.

The president said the SC ruling to declare Duterte’s impeachment unconstitutional “does not have any bearing on the rightness or wrongness of the merits of the impeachment case.”

“They're not saying that there was no wrongdoing. Neither are they saying that there was no wrongdoing. Neither are they saying that there was wrongdoing. All they're saying is that you did not handle it properly,” Marcos said.

He also pointed out that the ruling does not question the government’s mechanisms to hold public officials accountable.

In a landslide vote, the Senate earlier decided to ‘archive’ Duterte’s impeachment case despite calls from some lawmakers to wait for the verdict on the motions for reconsideration against the SC ruling.

“Accountability just doesn't come into it here. It's an entirely, highly tangential matter. It is not a central point in the discussion,” said Marcos.

The president reiterated that he had no hand in Duterte’s impeachment.

“It would be highly improper for me to tell my friends who are in the Senate and who are in the House. So, yes, they ask and we talk about it but it's not as if I try to direct their actions,” he said.

Duterte was impeached in February over supposed graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, and other high crimes. The case revolved around the vice president’s controversial budget spending and threats to the president’s family, among others.

NewsWatch Plus correspondent Lance Mejico contributed to this report.