Senate receives House reply on VP Sara impeachment claims

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate impeachment court yesterday received the House of Representatives prosecution team’s reply to the answer ad cautelam of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Senate secretary and impeachment court clerk of court Renato Bantug Jr. said the submission concluded the process of filing answers to formal pleadings by both prosecution and defense before the end of the 19th Congress on June 30.

The 37-page document was received at 1:38 p.m.

“Insofar as the answer and replies, that process is complete,” Bantug told reporters after the House process server submitted the pleading in his office.

Bantug said both parties can still file pleadings if they want to before the scheduled convening of the impeachment court on July 29 thereafter, or during the 20th Congress.

“In between now and the next step, it’s up to the parties, it’s up to the court. If they wish to file anything between now and later, it’s up to them really,” Bantug said.

He said the court will not furnish Senate reporters a copy of the House answer because the court will still route the copies to the senator-judges on Monday. He said even the outgoing senator-judges will be given copies before the expiry of their terms at noon of June 30.

“Technically, they are still members of the court until June 30,” Bantug said.

The House prosecution team earlier filed two other pleadings on Wednesday. In the first pleading, they resubmitted their “Entry of Appearance with Motion to Issue Summons” which they previously filed on March 25.

The House submitted a second pleading in the form of a “Submission… attesting to the fact” that the Articles of Impeachment complied with the provision on Article XI, Section 3(5) of the 1987 Constitution for a one-year bar on initiating impeachment.

Proceed with trial

The 11-man prosecution panel of the House of Representatives asked the Senate yesterday to immediately proceed with the impeachment trial of Vice President Duterte.

“We urge the impeachment court to commence with the trial now. The prayer of the House prosecution panel is to deny the dismissal being sought by the Vice President and proceed to the trial. Allow the prosecution to present its evidence and allow her (Duterte) to present her defense,” lawyer Antonio Audie Bucoy, spokesman for the House impeachment prosecution team, said at a press conference.

Bucoy said the prosecution team submitted yesterday to the Senate its reply to the answer ad cautelam of Duterte, one day before the deadline set by the impeachment court.

“We said that the grounds that she (Duterte) cited for dismissal of the impeachment against her have no basis. There was no basis on her claim that the Articles of Impeachment violated the one-year ban rule, she was not given due process to answer the complaint and the Senate is not a continuing body,” he said.

Bucoy said Duterte’s answer ad cautelam is a “scrap of paper” and has no value, as her answer was general denial based on “misconceptions and falsehoods.”

He argued that Duterte’s response failed to directly address the allegations, relying instead on vague denials without factual explanation.

Under established legal doctrine, Bucoy said a general denial that fails to specifically refute allegations with facts is effectively considered an admission.

“When you deny, there must be a reason. It is not true because what happened is this. She doesn’t have that,” he said.

Bucoy noted that Duterte failed to directly deny key allegations, including the rapid spending of P125 million in confidential funds in just 11 days, her chief of staff’s alleged attempt to block the release of audit documents and the use of fictitious names in liquidation reports. — Jose Rodel Clapano