00:00In the Constitution, in defense of institutional balance, and in the name of the Filipino people,
00:08the House of Representatives has filed a motion for reconsideration before the Supreme Court.
00:15This is not an act of defiance. It is an act of duty.
00:20We do not challenge the authority of the Court.
00:23We seek only to preserve the rightful role of the House, the voice of the people,
00:28in the process of accountability.
00:32Let us be clear.
00:34The Constitution says the House of Representatives shall have the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment.
00:44That power is not shared, not subject to pre-approval, and not conditional.
00:51Yet, in GR No. 278353, the Supreme Court ruled otherwise, based on a misreading of facts and a retroactive imposition of the new rules.
01:05On February 5, 2025, the House transmitted the fourth impeachment complaint, filed and signed by 215 members to the Senate.
01:19Only after this transmittal did we archive the earlier three complaints.
01:24Even the court's own precedent, Francisco v. House, supports this.
01:41Only one impeachment can be initiated, and that initiation begins with a one-third endorsement or a referral.
01:49That is exactly what the House did.
01:52The court also said the Vice President was denied due process because she was not furnished a copy or given a chance to respond.
02:03But nowhere in the Constitution is that required before transmittal.
02:08In fact, in all past impeachments, the trial and the right to be heard take place in the Senate.
02:14To invent new rules now and apply them retroactively is not just unfair, it is constitutionally suspect.
02:25Let me say this with candor.
02:27A government of laws cannot allow any branch to become the judge of its own accountability.
02:32The Supreme Court is a co-equal branch of government.
02:37Its wisdom is deep, its authority is real.
02:41But its members, like the President and the Vice President, are also impeachable officers.
02:47When the court lays down rules for how it or others like it may be impeached,
02:54it puts itself in the dangerous position of righting conditions that may shield itself from future accountability.
03:03That is not how checks and balances work.
03:06We filed this motion for reconsideration not to provoke but to protect.
03:11Not to assert supremacy, but to restore balances.
03:16Because if impeachments can be blocked by misunderstood facts or rules made after the fact,
03:23then accountability is not upheld, it is denied.
03:28To dissent is not to defy.
03:31To demand accountability is not to destabilize.
03:34To insist on constitutional integrity is not to weaken democracy, it is to strengthen it.
03:41We speak now, not because it is easy, but because it is necessary.
03:46The House will not bow in silence.
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