Sara Duterte's lawyers: We're ready to defend the VP before Senate

Lawyers of Vice President Sara Duterte stood firm Monday that they are prepared to defend the second highest official in the country before the Senate, should it convene as an impeachment court.

This, after the House of Representatives—for the second straight year— voted to impeach Duterte on allegations of culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, bribery, and other high crimes.

“While questions of constitutional significance remain pending before the Supreme Court, we are fully prepared to defend the Vice President before the Senate sitting as an Impeachment Court, where it is incumbent upon the Prosecution to discharge the burden of proof,” Duterte’s defense team said in a statement.

The statement was sent by Atty. Michael Poa, spokesperson for the Vice President's defense team, to members of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) media.

Duterte’s lawyers also emphasized that it is now up to the accusers to substantiate their allegations possibly during the impeachment trial.

“We are aware of the action taken by the plenary and with that vote to transmit the Articles of Impeachment, the burden now rests on the accusers to substantiate their claims in accordance with the Constitution, the law, and rules on evidence,” they said.

The House plenary voted to impeach Duterte, this time with 255 yes votes, 26 no votes, and 9 abstentions. Only 106 yes votes were needed to satisfy the 1987 Constitution's requirement that one-third of the House membership be present to impeach an impeachable official.

After the developments at the House, the Articles of Impeachment are now expected to be transmitted to the Senate, which has the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment.

The House plenary vote came after a leadership change in the Senate also on Monday.

Voting 13-10, senators voted to oust Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III as Senate President. He was replaced by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as leader of the upper chamber. — RSJ, GMA News