Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada disclosed that 19 to 20 senators adhere to the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) declaring the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte unconstitutional.

The sentiment of most of my fellow senators is to abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court,” Estrada said.

“Unang-una sa body language, pangalawa sa salita nila, mahahalata mo naman kung sino eh,” he added.

Estrada echoed this, saying that the Senate is “going to flirt for a constitutional crisis” if the SC ruling is not followed. He also pointed out that the decision is immediately executory even though a motion for reconsideration (MR) may still be filed.

“No more [trial] because ang sabi ng Supreme Court, ang desisyon ng Supreme Court, the Senate has no jurisdiction dahil unconstitutional ang finile ng House of Representatives. We don’t have any jurisdiction anymore and the Senate will not convene as the impeachment court because we don’t have the jurisdiction,” the Senate President Pro Tempore explained.

While he was open to hearing arguments on the matter, Estrada said his decision will not change.

Voting 13-0-2, the SC last week declared the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte unconstitutional, stressing that it is barred by the one-year rule under the Constitution and that it violates her right to due process.

Likewise, the same court decision states that the Senate cannot acquire jurisdiction over the impeachment proceedings.

However, the Supreme Court stressed that it is not absolving Duterte from any of the charges against her and that any subsequent impeachment complaint may be filed starting February 6, 2026.

Earlier, Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero shared his personal opinion on the matter, saying that the SC decision must be followed “otherwise, [there] will have a constitutional crisis, and our neighboring countries and other people might view us as a banana republic where we only follow what we want.”

“Hindi because I will abide with the decision of the Supreme Court. Kahit na maganda ang kanilang dahilan, ultimately ang Supreme Court ang masusunod hindi naman sila. Unless ‘pag na-file ang House ng MR at ma-reverse, we will abide with the ruling,” he added.

(No, because I will abide by the decision of the Supreme Court. Even if others have good reasons not to do the same, the Supreme Court has the final say, not them. Unless the House files a motion for reconsideration and the decision is reversed, we will abide by the ruling.)

The Senate is set to discuss the SC decision on August 6, 2025, according to Escudero.