VP Sara Duterte has until June 1 to answer Articles of Impeachment

MANILA, May 21 ------ The Senate Impeachment Court gave Vice President Sara Duterte until June 1 to file her answer to the Articles of Impeachment that the House sent to the Senate for trial.

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, the court's presiding officer, announced this during the regular session of the Senate, saying the summons was served to the Office of the Vice President earlier in the day. The prosecution also received a copy on the same day, he said. "Under the applicable rules, respondent is given 10 calendar days from service of summons within which to file her answer," he said, noting that since that would be a Saturday, the deadline will be on the Monday after that.

He said that upon receipt of Duterte's answer, the prosecution will have five days to respond "if they opt to do so." He said he brought it up because the Senate has to discuss its schedule to accommodate impeachment court, committee hearings and other activities.

Duterte faces accusations that she misused her office's confidential funds, issued threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family, and amassed questionable wealth, among other allegations. She has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has said the allegations are linked to electoral politics.

HOUSE PROSECUTOR HOPES FOR 'SUBSTANTIAL' ANSWERS FROM DUTERTE

At the House, a member of the prosecution panel said he hopes Duterte and her legal team will give "more substantial" answers to the accusations against her.

Bicol Saro Party-List Rep. Terry Ridon said Duterte's response at House hearings on impeachment complaints against her were "basically just a very short response to all of the allegations" that he said did not address specific points. "But our expectation now is they will still be raising jurisdictional and constitutional questions, which they actually did the last time. But also, they will have to… probably answer point per point [the] Articles of Impeachment already, only because this is the last opportunity for the vice president to actually answer all of the allegations."

Ridon said the prosecution plans to present the Articles of Impeachment in this order:

- Article 4: Alleged grave threats

- Article 2: Alleged unexplained wealth

- Article 1: Alleged confidential fund misuse

- Article 3: Alleged bribery

He added the panel has "high confidence" that it can convince senator-judges to convict Duterte because of the strength of the alleged evidence against her. "You only need to secure one conviction on one article to basically remove the vice president from office... I think as we speak today, we are ready to present all of the grounds when we get the trial proper," he added.

IMPEACHMENT CALENDAR

Meanwhile, the Senate has agreed to publish the trial calendar for the proceedings against the vice president. This, as there were no objections to the motion of Sen. Erwin Tulfo to publish the calendar that the Senate will decide in caucus.

The Senate adjourned its regular session earlier than usual Wednesday to pave the way for the caucus of all senators, where they will be briefed on impeachment proceedings by the Senate Secretariat. Tulfo inquired if the calendar will be published, noting that the public is "very interested in this trial." "We'd rather have consensus rather than vote on it. But if we do have a consensus, please move that we announce it to the public," Cayetano said. Tulfo moved for the calendar to be published, and with no objections, it was carried.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com