Lawmakers: VP Sara failed to answer impeachment raps

Vice President Sara Duterte has failed to answer the allegations in the impeachment complaints against her, House Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V said Tuesday.

Ortega made the position in reference to the Vice President’s Answer Ad Cautelam which heavily cited the Supreme Court decisions in July 2025 and January 2026 which junked the 2025 impeachment case against her for violating the one year bar and violating her right to due process.

Ortega said the Vice President wrongly cites the Supreme Court decisions in defending herself since both of these high court rulings did not rule on the merits of the impeachment case against the Vice President.

“The Vice President continues to stonewall the allegations against her. This is not an answer at all. Instead of addressing the charges head-on, she chose to hide behind technicalities,” Ortega, endorser of the 4th impeachment complaint, said in a statement

“Hindi naman tumutugon sa substance ng kaso (It does not respond to the substance of the case). They have to read both the Supreme Court decision and resolution again. The ruling did not junk the 2025 impeachment on substantive grounds, but only on procedural matters. In fact, the Supreme Court itself said that its ruling did not absolve the Vice President,” Ortega added.

The impeachment complaints leveled against the Vice President mainly allege that the she committed betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, among others, over the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds and using them as bribes, and threat to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family, including her desire to remove the head of the Chief Executive.

Ortega then said the public deserves clear and direct answers from the Vice President.

“Accountability cannot be stonewalled,” Ortega added.

House justice panel member and Bicol Saro party-list Representative Terry Ridon agreed, saying the Vice President’s reply was a confused interpretation of due process and the concept of ultimate facts in impeachment cases.

“The Vice President was not deprived of due process. In fact, she was afforded the opportunity to respond through this Answer Ad Cautelam. However, the submission does not specifically and completely rebut the material allegations raised in the complaints,” Ridon said in a separate statement.

"A plain reading of the complaints and supporting documentation clearly establishes ultimate facts relating to: the misuse of confidential funds; the issuance of death threats against the President, the First Lady, and the former Speaker of the House; and unexplained wealth and violations of the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) requirements,” Ridon added. 

GMA News Online reached out to Atty. Michael Poa, spokesperson of Duterte’s defense team, for a comment and will update this story once he responds.

The Vice President earlier denied committing impeachable offenses, saying her accusers cannot prove an existing contract between her and the hitman to kill the President and his relatives. 

Likewise, she said the Commission on Audit (COA)'s notice of disallowance regarding the Office of the Vice President's use of P73 million in confidential funds in 2022 is still under appeal. 

Navotas Representative Tobias Tiangco agreed with the Vice President. 

"The COA notice is not yet final, and she can appeal it all the way to the Supreme Court," Tiangco said in a separate interview. 

Regarding the Vice President's threat to kill the President and members of his family in an expletive-filled video, Tiangco said the grave threat offense should be filed by the offended party. 

"It should be filed before the DOJ (Department of Justice.)," Tiangco added. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News