Sara Duterte on Impeachment Complaint by House: “Scrap of paper”

Vice Pres. Sara Duterte Responds To Summons over Impeachment Complaint

SARA DUTERTE – The Vice President, in her Answer Ad Cautelam, called the impeachment complaint filed by the House of Representatives “a scrap of paper”.

To prove that the impeachment complaint is not dismissed despite the Senate ruling to return Duterte’s impeachment to the House of Representatives, Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero said the Vice President will be sent summons. Escudero who sits as the presiding officer of the Senate impeachment court added that both the House and Duterte must respect the decision of the impeachment court.

The Senata impeachment court remanded the Articles of Impeachment against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte over an issue of constitutionality. The upper chamber also required a reconfirmation from the 20th Congress.

The motion to return Duterte’s impeachment to the House came shortly after the rest of the senators took their oath as senator judges of the impeachment court in the Vice President’s trial. Eighteen (18) senator judges voted in support for the motion.

While 18 senator judges supported the motion, only five (5) senator judges opposed it. Here is a table of the votes of the senator judges:

As required by the Senate impeachment court, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte recently sent her Answer Ad Cautelam to summons over the impeachment complaint filed by the House of Representatives against her. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, in her response to the summons, the Vice President called the impeachment complaint  “nothing more than a scrap of paper”.

Duterte also claimed that the House allegedy committed a violation on the legal process for impeachment. According to her, the evidence attached to the complaint are “false, misleading, impertinent, and mere conclusions of fact and law”.

Vice Pres. Sara Duterte entered a “not guilty” plea on the impeachment case against her. Based on the report, she also claimed that the Senate impeachment court loss its jurisdiction over the complaint with the adjournment of the 19th Congress.

Despite several veteran senators and former senators previously stressing that the Senate is a continuing body, Vice Pres. Duterte insisted in her Answer Ad Cautelam is allegedly not. Based on the report, she stated that the proceedings conducted by the Senate are “considered terminated upon the expiration of that Congress”.

Duterte further stated that there is allegedly no provision in the Constitution that allows the crossing over of an impeachment trial from one Senate to another.

Amid her camp’s belief that the Marcos administration wants her out, Pres. Bongbong Marcos recently maintained that he has no role in the impeachment process of the Vice President. He stressed that it is within the control of the legislative branch. Vice Pres. Sara Duterte reacted to the claim of Marcos Jr. over the impeachment issue.