SENATOR Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said the Senate is waiting for the next move from the House of Representatives after it returned the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte.
“So technically wala sa amoa karun ang bola nasa ilaha (So technically, the ball is not with us—it’s with them)," Dela Rosa told reporters on Thursday morning, June 12, at Rizal Park in Davao City. "Wala namang action, maghintay lang kami kung ma comply nila yung mga issues na that were cited as reasons for the mandate of the return (We cannot take any action unless we have jurisdiction. We’re just waiting to see if they will comply with the issues cited as reasons for returning the articles).”
The senator said that among the issues raised by the Senate was a potential constitutional violation, and stressed that actions of the 19th Congress are not binding on the 20th Congress.
He cautioned against rushing into trial without properly addressing flaws in the impeachment articles, saying the Senate found inconsistencies that prompted the return of the documents to the House.
Dela Rosa said the Senate is now awaiting whether the House prosecutors will choose to resubmit the impeachment articles and address the concerns raised.
On June 10, 2025, 18 senator-judges voted in favor of a motion by Senator-Judge Alan Peter Cayetano to return the articles of impeachment to the House. The decision aimed to uphold constitutional safeguards and jurisdictional requirements.
However, in a plenary session on June 11, the House of Representatives deferred acceptance of the returned documents. Instead, it adopted House Resolution No. 2346, which certified that the impeachment proceedings initiated on February 5 complied with the 1987 Constitution.
The resolution was filed by House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr., and Deputy Speaker David Suarez.
Responding to claims that the Senate was stalling the process, Dela Rosa dismissed the accusations, pointing out that the House took two months to transmit the articles and only submitted them an hour before the sine die adjournment.
"Sila ang nag langay-langay tapos kami ang basulon eh gihatag na sa amoa one hour before adjournment, before since dine adjournment so unsay mahimo pa namo (They were the ones who delayed it, but we’re the ones being blamed. They gave it to us just one hour before adjournment—what else could we have done?)," he said. RGP