Vice President Sara Duterte has formally submitted an Answer Ad Cautelam in response to the impeachment complaint filed against her, arguing that the case should be dismissed for violating the one-year bar rule under the 1987 Constitution.
House of Representatives Spokesperson Atty. Princess Abante confirmed that the chamber received a copy of Duterte’s legal response on Monday, June 23, at 3:53 p.m. The document was delivered by Arnel Barrientos Jr., a messenger from the law firm Fortun, Narvasa & Salazar.
In her Answer Ad Cautelam, Duterte asserted that the impeachment case must be “dismissed outright,” citing a violation of Section 3 (5), Article XI of the Constitution, which provides that “no impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.” Her legal team described the case as “void ab initio,” or invalid from the outset.
The Vice President’s move comes in response to Articles of Impeachment formally transmitted to her by the Senate impeachment court on June 12. She was given until June 23 to file her official response. Her camp maintains that the present complaint is barred due to a previously filed and dismissed impeachment bid earlier in the year.
However, members of the House supporting the impeachment complaint contend that the one-year ban only applies once a complaint is formally “initiated” or “referred” by the House, in accordance with its internal rules. This interpretation aligns with the House’s June 11 resolution, which certified that the current impeachment proceedings had complied with constitutional requirements.
The legal battle over the interpretation of the one-year bar rule is now expected to become a central point of contention when the Senate impeachment court begins deliberations. The Vice President’s legal team is likely to further argue that accepting the case would undermine the intent of the constitutional safeguard, which aims to prevent harassment through repeated impeachment attempts.
As the proceedings unfold, both the legality and timing of the impeachment effort will be scrutinized, with political analysts expecting a contentious legal fight ahead. The Senate impeachment court has yet to comment on the Answer Ad Cautelam, but the document is now part of the official records for the case.
The Vice President has not issued a public statement on the matter as of this writing.