Photo credit: Inday Sara Duterte

The House prosecution panel has asked the Senate to move forward with the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, arguing that her official response to the charges fails to directly address the allegations against her.

On Monday, the 11-member prosecution team submitted a manifestation instead of a formal reply to Duterte’s answer, saying there was little reason to continue exchanging pleadings because the vice president's filing did not raise any substantial factual issues.

The document was submitted to the Senate through House Secretary General Cheloy Garafil and was received by Senate Secretary General Renato Bantug Jr. Copies were also sent to the Office of the Vice President and her legal team from Fortun, Narvasa & Salazar.

In the five-page manifestation, prosecutors said Duterte focused heavily on procedural, constitutional, and jurisdictional arguments rather than responding to the specific allegations outlined in the Articles of Impeachment.

"Under the applicable rules, the allegations and defenses in the Answer are deemed controverted even without a Reply," the manifestation read.

"More fundamentally, the Answer raises no material factual issue that requires a responsive pleading. It does not meaningfully engage the factual allegations in the Articles of Impeachment, but instead concentrates on procedural, jurisdictional, and constitutional objections directed against the continuation of the proceedings," it added.

Duterte is facing four articles of impeachment that include allegations involving the misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds, bribery, unexplained wealth, and grave threats allegedly directed at President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker of the House Martin Romualdez.

According to the prosecution, Duterte repeatedly denied committing any impeachable offense but failed to provide detailed explanations or evidence to counter the accusations.

"This is evident across all four Articles, where respondent repeatedly asserts that she committed no impeachable offense," the manifestation read.

"Yet beyond these general denials, the Answer offers no coherent factual narrative that directly refutes the charges set forth in the Articles of Impeachment," it added.

The prosecutors said Duterte also did not present her own version of events regarding the allegations or explain financial transactions being questioned, including issues related to the disclosure of assets in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).

Because of this, the prosecution argued that the vice president appears to be seeking the dismissal of the impeachment complaint before evidence can even be presented during trial.

"In substance, therefore, the Answer does not function as a genuine response to the charges, but as an attempt to secure the outright dismissal of the impeachment case on threshold constitutional and procedural grounds," the manifestation read.

The prosecution maintained that neither the Constitution nor Senate impeachment rules allow the outright dismissal of an impeachment case before trial. Instead, they argued that the proper process is a full hearing that would ultimately lead to either conviction or acquittal.

The House panel also pushed back against Duterte's constitutional and jurisdictional objections, noting that these matters are already being considered by the Supreme Court.

"To the extent that these matters have been elevated for judicial determination, the Senate, sitting as an Impeachment Court, cannot be placed in the position of reviewing or pre-empting issues currently pending before the Supreme Court," the manifestation read.

The prosecutors further argued that the Senate should not review how the House initiated the impeachment process, stressing that the Constitution grants the House of Representatives the exclusive authority to initiate impeachment proceedings.

"At the same time, these objections go into the very core of the House's exclusive power to initiate impeachment proceedings. This power cannot be subjected to review, revision, or nullification by the Senate acting as an Impeachment Court, without effectively disturbing the constitutional allocation of powers between the two Houses of Congress," it added.

The prosecution concluded by urging the Senate to begin the trial without further delay, saying additional pleadings would only slow down a process that the Constitution says should proceed “forthwith.”

The Senate, however, has yet to settle its internal leadership issues before formally opening the impeachment trial, with reports indicating proceedings may begin in July.