MANILA, Philippines— House trial spokesperson and Lanao del Sur Representative Zia Alonto Adiong on Wednesday criticized Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s formal response to the Articles of Impeachment, characterizing the filing as a “non-answer” that fails to address the core allegations and relies on exhausted procedural objections.
Speaking at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum, Adiong stated that the House prosecution panel anticipated a substantive legal defense supported by evidence to refute the charges now pending before the Senate impeachment court.
Instead, Adiong argued that the Vice President’s legal team chose to repeat arguments challenging the validity of the process—matters he noted have already been clarified by the judiciary.
He pointed out that the Supreme Court, in the case of Duterte v. House of Representatives, previously affirmed the exclusive power of the House to initiate impeachment proceedings while ensuring due process.
“But what we didn’t expect is that the answers are still the same. It’s a non-answer to the articles of impeachment, because they’ve been publicly questioning the process by which even the Supreme Court has already laid down guidelines,” Adiong said.
He emphasized that the House Committee on Justice conducted thorough proceedings to establish probable cause based on available evidence. He also noted that Duterte and her legal representatives were repeatedly invited to participate and present their side during the committee hearings but chose not to attend.
According to Adiong, the defense’s latest strategy appears designed to pressure the Senate into throwing out the case rather than litigating its merits.
“So, what they intend to actually achieve is for the impeachment court to dismiss the impeachment complaints, which I believe the Senate acting as impeachment court, has no option to do that under the Constitution once they have taken jurisdiction and assumed jurisdiction over these complaints,” Adiong said. “The Senate need not do anything other than to reach a decision whether to acquit or to convict the respondent, in this case the Vice President,” he added.
Adiong maintained that the public expects a transparent look into the issues raised in the impeachment complaints rather than technical evasions.
“The people themselves, the public themselves, agree that the process has to go through and has to move forward. In this case, the Senate should now proceed to the actual impeachment trial,” he said. “I do firmly believe that our senators understand their constitutional duty because the House of Representatives has already performed our constitutional duty,” he concluded.| (PNA)
