Jose Enrique A. Africa, executive director of think tank IBON Foundation, said that the recent ruling had made it harder to hold officials accountable.

“The SC’s ruling has the practical effect of bolstering impunity by making impeachment more difficult given how the House is so subject to partisanship and patronage,” Mr. Africa said in a Messenger chat.

“It is precisely that partisanship and patronage that will be so influential in a Charter change process, rather than an impulse for democratic reforms,” he added.