VP Sara, defense team to discuss Senate summons

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte will be meeting with her defense team to discuss the summons issued by the Senate, which requires her to answer allegations in the Articles of Impeachment filed by the House of Representatives.

“I will discuss that with my defense counsels. They will discuss how they will reply to the summons of the Senate,” Duterte said in a chance interview after attending a Philippine Independence Day celebration in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

On Wednesday, the Office of the Vice President confirmed receiving the Senate summons signed by Senate President Francis Escudero.

In his summons, Escudero asked Duterte to file her answer to the accusations indicated in the Articles of Impeachment within a non-extendible period of 10 days.

The Senate President noted that the House of Representatives transmitted the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate on Feb. 5. They were referred to the impeachment court on Monday.

But the reading of the Articles of Impeachment – originally scheduled on June 11 – was cancelled by the Senate impeachment court, as it had already become “moot.”

In a letter to Speaker Martin Romualdez, Escudero said “the putative presentation of the Articles of Impeachment which was scheduled for June 11, 2025 has been rendered moot and is thereby cancelled.”

Prior to the cancellation, the Senate impeachment court voted to return the Articles of Impeachment to the House with two key conditions: the constitutional one-year ban on filing successive complaints be respected and the incoming 20th Congress expressly affirm its intention to pursue the case.

The decision came despite prior preparations by the Senate for trial proceedings, including the adoption of procedural rules.

Even if the Senate remanded the articles to the House, it still summoned Duterte to answer to the Articles of Impeachment filed by the lower chamber – formally beginning her impeachment trial.

House to AMLC: Probe VP, Duterte account

Duterte branded as false the claim made by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV that she has a joint bank account with her father funded by someone connected with the drug trade.

“Let’s respect the opinion of (former) senator Trillanes,” she said, and added that it’s his opinion only, which does not mean it’s true.

The House of Representatives adopted the recommendation of the quad committee asking the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to probe the alleged joint bank account with her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

In its 66-page committee report, the quad committee urged the AMLC to investigate the alleged joint bank account of the Dutertes, after Trillanes claimed that the funds came from a financier with links to the drug trade.

The quad committee report was signed by Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers as chair and Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez, Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante and Abang Lingkod Rep. Joseph Paduano as co-chairs.

The panel cited the testimony of Trillanes, who alleged that money flowed into the account from an alleged drug lord, Sammy Uy, to fund a rewards system for police who would shoot drug suspects dead on the pretext that they resisted arrest.