House asks Senate to order Sara Duterte to answer impeachment complaint

House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan, on behalf of the prosecution team, has asked Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero to order Vice President Sara Duterte to answer the Articles of Impeachment against her.

In an entry with motion to issue summons filed with the Senate, Libanan asked that Duterte be directed to file her answer "within a non-extendible period of 10 days from receipt of the writ of summons."

Libanan and another impeachment prosecutor 1-Rider Representative Rodge Gutierrez led the filing Tuesday morning. Reps. Paolo Ortega and Jay Khonghun accompanied them.

The prosecution panel said that their request is based on Rule 7 of Resolution No. 39 dated March 23 2011 which states that “a writ of summons should be issued to the person impeached, reciting or incorporating said articles, and notifying him/her to appear before the Senate upon a day and at a place to be fixed by the Senate and named in such writ, and to file his/her Answer to said articles of impeachment within a non-extendible period of 10 days from receipt thereof; to which the prosecutors may reply within an extendible period of five days therefrom.”

The same Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials also states that it "should remain in force until amended or repealed".

“Such language is significant and has been determined by the Supreme Court to relay an intention for the said rules to be 'valid from the date of their adoption until they are amended or repealed' and 'to be effective even in the next Congress,' the document submitted to the Senate read.

“Thus, it behooves the Honorable Impeachment Court to give effect to the constitutional mandate for the instant impeachment case to "forthwith proceed" and issue the writ of summons to respondent Duterte,” it added.

In response, Escudero said the Senate's legal team will look into the House's request.

"We will refer it to the Senate Legal Team and discuss it with them tomorrow. We will act on this accordingly and in due course," he said in a separate statement.

Escudero earlier released the initial timetable for procedures related to the impeachment trial of Duterte. The expected start of trial is July 30.

The House impeached Duterte last February 5, accusing her of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and other high crimes based on the following seven Articles of Impeachment:

• conspiracy to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. First Lady Liza Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez;
• malversation of P612.5 Million in confidential funds with questionable liquidation documents;
• bribery and corruption in the DepEd during Duterte’s tenure by handing out cash to former DepEd Undersecretary Gloria Jumamil-Mercado (Procurement Head), Bids and Awards Committee Member Resty Osias, DepEd Chief Accountant Rhunna Catalan and Special Disbursing Officer Edward Fajarda;
• unexplained wealth and failure to disclose assets in the Vice President’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth where her wealth increased by four times from 2007 from 2017;
• involvement in extrajudicial killings in Davao City;
• destabilization, insurrection, and public disorder efforts, which include: boycotting the State of the Nation Address (SONA) while declaring herself "designated survivor," leading rallies calling for Marcos' resignation, obstructing congressional investigations by ordering subordinates not to comply with subpoenas, threatening bodily harm against the First Couple and Romualdez, among others;
• the totality of the Vice President’s conduct as the second highest official of the land. 

There were over 215 House members who signed the impeachment complaint, more than the constitutionally-required one third of the House members needed to send the complaint straight to the Senate for the conduct of the impeachment trial, bypassing committee-level deliberations in the House.

Duterte earlier said that she is not contemplating on resigning from her position yet after the House  impeached her.

While the impeachment court has yet to be convened, Duterte also said that she will not appear in the hearings since it is allowed.

The Vice President has filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with urgent application of temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction with the Supreme Court challenging the validity and constitutionality of the complaint against her.

Lawyers from Mindanao and others also asked the SC earlier to direct the Senate to cease and desist from conducting the impeachment trial of Duterte, arguing that it is based on a defective complaint.

In a 114-page petition, they also asked the SC to declare the Articles of Impeachment as null and void.—AOL, GMA Integrated News