A Quezon City court has dismissed a petition filed by lawyer Manases Carpio seeking to stop the impeachment proceedings against his wife, Vice President Sara Duterte, ruling that the judiciary cannot interfere with the constitutional powers of the House of Representatives.
In a five-page decision dated May 6, 2026, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 81 said it had no jurisdiction over the matter and denied Carpio’s request for a writ of preliminary injunction.
“The petition for prohibition is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. The prayer for issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction is denied,” Presiding Judge Madonna Echiverri stated in the ruling.
Carpio had asked the court to prevent the House Committee on Justice from enforcing subpoenas and pursuing actions related to the impeachment complaints against the Vice President, particularly requests involving tax records and other documents allegedly connected to Duterte and her husband.
However, the court ruled that the House panel was acting within its constitutional mandate and that its functions could not be restrained through injunction or prohibition.
According to the decision, members of the House Committee on Justice were lawfully carrying out their responsibility to determine the sufficiency of the impeachment complaint and establish probable cause before any case is transmitted to the Senate.
Citing Article XI of the 1987 Constitution, the court emphasized that the House of Representatives has the exclusive authority to initiate impeachment proceedings.
The ruling also upheld the subpoena powers of the House panel, saying such authority forms part of its inherent powers while conducting impeachment hearings.
The court likewise rejected Carpio’s argument that the House committee had no jurisdiction over him or over documents allegedly linked to him and the Vice President.
It further explained that a petition for prohibition only applies when a body exercises powers not granted by law, which the court said did not apply in this case.
The RTC also denied Carpio’s request for judicial notice of news reports and YouTube videos related to the impeachment proceedings, noting that newspaper reports are considered hearsay and carry no probative value in court.
The court added that the petition should have been filed before the Supreme Court of the Philippines since the respondents were acting as part of a co-equal branch of government.
The ruling came days after the House Committee on Justice unanimously found probable cause in the impeachment complaints against Duterte and approved the Articles of Impeachment for transmittal to the plenary. Lawmakers are expected to take up the matter on May 11.