Justice and Crime ⚖️
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BREAKING NEWS: The Supreme Court has barred the current impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte for one year on due process grounds. It can be refiled after a year. Press conference ongoing.
Punzalan Castillo will serve in acting capacity until President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. chooses his Ombudsman from the Judicial and Bar Council’s short list.
Among the contenders are DOJ chief Boying Remulla, Sandiganbayan chief Geraldine Faith Econg, and former COA chairperson Mike Aguinaldo.
APPLY PROSPECTIVELY? Senators Aquino, Hontiveros and Pangilinan issue a joint statement "urging" the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision so that their ruling is applied prospectively, meaning on future impeachments not including this one. The three senators say "in doing so, the Court would not be undermining its power of review, but rather giving full effect to all branches of government." This option has been floated over the weekend by retired SC justices. However, constitutional law Prof Dan Gatmaytan said over Rappler Talk yesterday that this may be challenging because the trial has not started yet, and the SC said the "Senate never acquired jurisdiction" of the case. This is why the Escudero -led Senate delaying the trial is now seen in a new light. How can people complain that SC is changing the rules in the middle of the game when they could then say, the game has not even started?
Here's @Jairo Bolledo-Rappler's interview with Prof Gatmaytan last night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-7iuThIgz8
Read their statement in full: JOINT STATEMENT On the Supreme Court’s Ruling Halting the Impeachment Trial of Vice President Sara Duterte July 28, 2025 We respectfully disagree with the Supreme Court’s ruling that halted the Senate’s constitutional duty to try the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte. Congress, acting in good faith and following prevailing jurisprudence, followed the law in initiating and transmitting the complaint. To retroactively apply a new definition of what it means to “initiate” an impeachment case—after the fact—can be likened to changing the rules in the middle of the game. It is unfair. Former Supreme Court Justice Adolfo Azcuna, a respected constitutionalist and framer, called it what it is: legally defensible, perhaps, but grossly unfair. (1/2)
(2/2) We therefore urge the Supreme Court to reconsider and apply two principles it has long upheld: • The Fairness Principle — that retroactive application of new legal interpretations should not harm those who relied in good faith on old ones; and • The Doctrine of Operative Facts — that actions already taken under a prior, valid interpretation should be recognized as legally effective. In doing so, the Court would not be undermining its power of review, but rather giving full effect to all branches of government, consistent with the doctrine established in Civil Liberties Union vs. Executive Secretary—that no constitutional provision should be read in a way that negates another. The powers of the Court, the House of Representatives, and the Senate must all be given proper and balanced effect. We did not swear an oath only to protect positions by way of technicalities. We swore to protect the Constitution—and the right of every Filipino to demand truth and justice. If we allow this precedent to stand, we risk silencing the very process meant to keep power in check. We call on our fellow citizens, on every institution that still believes in accountability, and on the Supreme Court itself: harmonize the seemingly conflicting provisions of the Constitution on Judicial review and the exclusive powers of Congress. — Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan — Sen. Risa Hontiveros — Sen. Bam Aquino
please help me. this one is very disturbing. an online loan app sent me this. anyone can help me???
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please help me. this one is very disturbing. an online loan app sent me this. anyone can help me???
If this is OLA, PAOCC will help you po. Go to their office – NASDAKE building 50 Williams St. Corner FB Harrison St., Pasay City. Meron po silang one stop shop duon for OLA victims.
wala po ba sila online??
wala po ba sila online??
wala po, dahil kailangan nilang ma verify lahat in order to help you.
'WE DISSENT:' FLAG calls the Supreme Court ruling barring Sara impeachment "grossly unfair" and if not reversed "creates a dangerous precedent."
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Of all the disagreements from the legal sphere, this one might just sting the most. The ponente, Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, was a member of FLAG (Free Legal Assistance Group) until his appointment to the Court. "We dissent" also bears so much reference, intended or not, to Leonen's track record of being a dissenter.
Gunmen on a motorcycle shot and wounded a former paralegal of the Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM), in Barangay Calumpang, General Santos City on Monday night, July 28.
The attack on Warren Cahayag came shortly after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered his 4th State of the Nation Address.
The UPLM condemned the attack as part of a pattern of violence against human rights defenders in Mindanao.
The crackdown on online lending platforms (OLPs) continues as the Securities and Exchange Commission slapped penalties on two OLP operators for unfair debt collection practices. The corporate regulator slapped a P1 million penalty against Link Credit Lending Investors Incorporated, operating as iPeso and Pesoin, over 200 complaints it received for its debt collection practices. This includes sending insulting messages to borrowers, as well as calling borrowers’ emergency contact and co-workers if they miss payments.
The SEC also fined LHL Online Lending Incorporated — which operates Pautang Online and Pautang Peso — P129,000 due to multiple complaints surrounding loan transparency. The SEC's Financing and Lending Companies Department (FinLend) found that LHL failed to provide customers a copy of their loan payment terms in writing, subjecting borrowers to hidden surcharges and a shorter timeframe to pay back the loan.
Very enlightening explanation about when an impeachment complaint starts in this latest from @Lian Buan - Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/explainers/supreme-court-impeachment-ruling-grossly-unfair-violates-constitution/ No less than former justice Conchita Carpio Morales says they even consulted constitutionalist-friends of the court who said dapat may transmittal to formally initiate the start of the process. The first 3 impeachment complaints were not transmitted, therefore dapat walang violation of the one-year bar rule when the 4th complaint was transmitted to the Senate. But there will be foreseeable challenges and debates ahead.
Getting hotter. 😤 👿
UP Law faculty members say the SC impeachment ruling "deviates from the design to protect the process from a tyrannical majority."
More than 80 faculty members of the UP College of Law release a statement "expressing grave concerns" following the SC ruling barring VP Sara Duterte's impeachment proceedings.
"The ruling creates an incentive for the filing of sham complaints to trigger the one-year bar rule—a political strategy once criticized by a justice as making “a mockery of the power of impeachment. Narrower rulings in the past have precisely avoided these unintended consequences," the faculty members said, which include former SC justice Francis Jardeleza.
"We stand by bedrock principles of our constitutional system and warn that these recent developments undermine impeachment as an indispensable instrument of political accountability for our highest public officials," they said. Read their full statement here: https://law.upd.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Statement-by-Individual-Members-of-the-UPCL-Faculty-on-Developments-in-the-Impeachment-of-VP-Sara-Z-Duterte.pdf
While FLAG’s advocacy for transparency and accountability is commendable, the substance of their objection to the Supreme Court ruling mischaracterizes both the law and the Court’s constitutional role. Upholding the Constitution’s procedural safeguards is not a betrayal of accountability but its very foundation. Constitutional discipline requires that even in politically charged cases, the rule of law—not passion—must govern.
The UP Law Faculty urges “restoring accountability.” But accountability without constitutional compliance is dangerous populism. If impeachment is to remain a credible tool, it must be used within the bounds of the Constitution—not as a cudgel shaped by political winds. The Supreme Court’s ruling is a principled affirmation of constitutional limits, not a betrayal of them. In defending those limits, the Court is protecting not just a Vice President, but the integrity of the entire constitutional system.
Amid wide-ranging criticisms, the Supreme Court finds support from the IBP.
The IBP or the Integrated Bar of the Philippines is the mandatory organization of lawyers and has insititutional support from
the Supreme Court. In a statement, the IBP's leadership said they "recognize the Court's authority to interpret constitutional limitations."
It said that while they agree dissent is key to democracy, "inciting to public repudiation, or even just to call for its outright defiane, erodes the very foundation of the legal order.
Academics and former justices have come out against the SC ruling.
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from the MR filed today. a lot of us missed the point in par 23. i think tito sotto first raised it during an interview.
IMPEACHMENT UPDATE: The Supreme Court asks Vice President Sara Duterte and Mindanaoan lawyers to comment on the motions for reconsideration filed vs the SC decision that barred Duterte's impeachment trial.
Asking for a comment or response is a typical process in case proceedings before the High Court.
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we will add this to the story, thank you!
NEWS UPDATE: Former PNP spox PLt. Gen. Bernard Banac is the PNP's new second highest cop (Deputy Chief for Administration) – just behind PNP chief Police General Nicolas Torre III.
He swapped places with PLt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., who is now assigned as position Area Police Commander for Western Mindanao.