THE Supreme Court (SC) clarified on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, that the controversial term “forthwith” in the Senate impeachment trial means “within a reasonable time.”
In a decision penned by Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda, the high court dismissed the petition for mandamus filed by Catalino Aldea Generillo Jr. which sought to compel the Senate to immediately convene as an impeachment court to try the impeachment charges against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Zalameda said the petition for mandamus was not the proper remedy for the matter, noting that the Senate’s exercise of its duties is beyond the SC’s power of review, except in cases of grave abuse of discretion, since they are co-equal constitutional bodies.
The High Court treated the petition as one for certiorari in the interest of equity and found that the Senate acted on the impeachment complaint in a “timely manner.”
“While the Constitution requires the House of Representatives to act within a certain number of session days on an impeachment complaint, it does not specify a fixed timeframe for the Senate to start an impeachment trial. It simply provides that the trial ‘shall forthwith proceed,’ leaving the timing to the Senate’s discretion,” the SC said in a press briefer.
“The SC clarified that the term ‘forthwith’ in Article XI, Section 3(4) of the Constitution means within a reasonable time, which may be longer or shorter, depending on the circumstances of each case. This allows the Senate to make the necessary preparations to convene as an impeachment court,” it added.
The SC said the Senate must avoid undue delay to uphold the principle that public officers must at all times be accountable to the people even as the Constitution does not set an exact date for the trial.
The High Court declared the petition moot since the Senate had begun impeachment preparations, and the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte were nullified by the SC’s in its July 25, 2025 and January 28, 2026 resolutions.
The first consolidated impeachment complaint filed against Duterte was endorsed by more than 250 lawmakers of the House of Representatives to the Senate on February 5, 2025, the last day of session before it went for a four-month break in relation to the May 2025 elections.
The Senate was criticized for going on a break without discussing the matter.
In August 2025, the Senate voted to archive the articles of impeachment filed against Duterte following the SC’s initial decision on the charges. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)