June 2, 2026
MANILA – The camp of Vice President Sara Duterte prayed on Monday for the dismissal of the impeachment case.
Duterte’s defense team, led by lawyer Michael Poa, submitted the answer of the vice president to the articles of impeachment.
“We want the articles of impeachment to be dismissed altogether, but whatever happens, we are prepared to mount a defense,” Poa told the media.
According to Poa, among the camp’s prayers is to dismiss the case altogether, saying there were “infirmities” in the proceedings done by the House panel on justice.
The House panel on justice held the impeachment hearings on Duterte.
In a summary of Duterte’s answer, her defense team wrote: “The House Committee on Justice (COJ) conducted a ‘trial,’ but trial can be done only by the Senate.”
It also accused the COJ of a “predetermined impeachment.”
“The proceedings were tainted by pre-judgment. Even before the conclusion of the hearings, several members of the Committee publicly declared that sufficient votes already existed to impeach the Vice President and that the evidence against her was allegedly already overwhelming,” it continued.
The defense also criticized the evidence presented during the hearings.
“We raise objection to the admissibility of the pieces of evidence,” Poa said.
He pointed out that the complaints cited in the impeachment articles did not have evidence attached.
Instead, Poa said, the “alleged pieces of evidence” came to light during the impeachment hearings at the House.
“In the ‘trial’ conducted by the COJ, new pieces of evidence not included in the impeachment complaints were introduced, which the vice president was not given the opportunity to confront and answer,” the defense began.
It continued: “This is not allowed and goes against the rules of fair play.”
They also addressed each article, but only detailed a summary of their objections in a document sent to the media.
“An impeachable officer is answerable only for alleged acts or omissions while holding the impeachable office. In this case, accusations against her include acts even before she became vice president,” the defense highlighted.
It also insisted that there is no determination of the misuse of confidential funds, nor were there details to support that Duterte’s assets were illegally obtained.
The defense then asserted: “There is a standard under the Constitution to establish culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, high crimes, or betrayal of public trust for an impeachable officer to be convicted of any thereof. The allegations against the vice president fall short of the threshold.