MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte might be assembly together with her protection group to debate the summons issued by the Senate, which requires her to reply allegations within the Articles of Impeachment filed by the Home of Representatives.
“I’ll talk about that with my protection counsels. They’ll talk about how they’ll reply to the summons of the Senate,” Duterte stated in an opportunity interview after attending a Philippine Independence Day celebration in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
On Wednesday, the Workplace of the Vice President confirmed receiving the Senate summons signed by Senate President Francis Escudero.
In his summons, Escudero requested Duterte to file her reply to the accusations indicated within the Articles of Impeachment inside a non-extendible interval of 10 days.
The Senate President famous that the Home of Representatives transmitted the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate on Feb. 5. They had been referred to the impeachment courtroom on Monday.
However the studying of the Articles of Impeachment – initially scheduled on June 11 – was cancelled by the Senate impeachment courtroom, because it had already grow to be “moot.”
In a letter to Speaker Martin Romualdez, Escudero stated “the putative presentation of the Articles of Impeachment which was scheduled for June 11, 2025 has been rendered moot and is thereby cancelled.”
Previous to the cancellation, the Senate impeachment courtroom voted to return the Articles of Impeachment to the Home with two key situations: the constitutional one-year ban on submitting successive complaints be revered and the incoming twentieth Congress expressly affirm its intention to pursue the case.
The choice got here regardless of prior preparations by the Senate for trial proceedings, together with the adoption of procedural guidelines.
Even when the Senate remanded the articles to the Home, it nonetheless summoned Duterte to reply to the Articles of Impeachment filed by the decrease chamber – formally starting her impeachment trial.
Home to AMLC: Probe VP, Duterte account
Duterte branded as false the declare made by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV that she has a joint checking account together with her father funded by somebody linked with the drug commerce.
“Let’s respect the opinion of (former) senator Trillanes,” she stated, and added that it’s his opinion solely, which doesn’t imply it’s true.
The Home of Representatives adopted the advice of the quad committee asking the Anti-Cash Laundering Council (AMLC) to probe the alleged joint checking account together with her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.
In its 66-page committee report, the quad committee urged the AMLC to research the alleged joint checking account of the Dutertes, after Trillanes claimed that the funds got here from a financier with hyperlinks to the drug commerce.
The quad committee report was signed by Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers as chair and Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez, Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante and Abang Lingkod Rep. Joseph Paduano as co-chairs.
The panel cited the testimony of Trillanes, who alleged that cash flowed into the account from an alleged drug lord, Sammy Uy, to fund a rewards system for police who would shoot drug suspects useless on the pretext that they resisted arrest.