Vice President Sara Duterte has formally asked the Senate to dismiss the impeachment complaint against her, arguing that the case is “void ab initio” — legally defective from the beginning.
Her legal team submitted a 35-page response to the impeachment court on Monday, citing a violation of the Constitution’s “one-year ban” rule on initiating more than one impeachment proceeding within a 12-month period.
“The Fourth Impeachment Complaint must be dismissed because: it is void ab initio for violating the One-Year Ban Rule under Section 3 (5) Article XI of the 1987 Constitution,” the document stated.
While Duterte did not appear before the Senate, the filing was made at 5:49 p.m. by a representative from her law firm, Fortun, Narvasa & Salazar. Senate Secretary Renato Bantug, who also serves as Clerk of Court, clarified in an interview that the answer was submitted ad cautelam, or “with caution.”
“Maybe in their minds, they like to reserve some arguments, but in compliance with the order of the court, [ay] nag-file sila ng answer, but they are doing so with precaution,” Bantug explained in an Inquirer.net report.
Per impeachment court rules, House prosecutors now have five days from the receipt of Duterte’s response to submit their reply.
Duterte’s camp received the summons on June 11, following the Senate’s order on June 10 for her to respond to the charges. The Vice President had a non-extendible 10-day deadline.
The House of Representatives had previously voted to impeach Duterte — a historic first — with more than 200 lawmakers backing the complaint. Among the allegations are misuse of P125 million in confidential funds within just 11 days of assuming office in 2022, and an alleged link to a plot to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Before this formal impeachment, three complaints had already been filed against Duterte in December 2024.
