Senate President Francis Chiz Escudero on Wednesday, June 25, clarified that the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, returned but did not dismiss the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, contrary to arguments being used in her defense.

In a copy of Duterte's Answer Ad Cautelam provided by the Senate Public Relations Information Bureau (PRIB), it is stated that considering that the Articles of Impeachment were referred back to the House, there should be no reason for the issuance of summons to compel her to answer the charges.

Thus, the Vice President cannot be compelled to answer allegations in Articles of Impeachment that had been ordered returned to its source, the document read.

Without the Articles of Impeachment in the chamber of this Court consequent to its order to return it to the HOR, requiring the Vice President to answer allegations therein is tantamount to requiring an accused to answer criminal charges which the Court has not yet decided to act upon or receive, it added.

However, during a press conference, Escudero pointed to the Senate's official order, which states that the return of the documents did not equate to the dismissal or termination of the case.

“Return without dismissing nor terminating the case. ‘Di ba nakalagay ‘yon doon (Isn't that stated there)?” Escudero said.

He emphasized that while one side is using the return as a legal defense, any debate over its implications will ultimately be resolved through a vote should the trial proceed. As Senate President, Escudero stressed he cannot alter the content of the Senate’s official order.

“Hindi ko pwedeng dagdagan o bawasan pa ang pinagbotohang order ng Senado (I cannot add to or subtract from the Senate's voted order),” he added.

The impeachment court asked the House of Representatives to certify to the non-violation of Article XI, Section 3, paragraph 5 of the Constitution, which provides that “No impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year,”; including the circumstances on the filing of the first three (3) impeachment complaints.

The senators also voted to the motion that seeks to ensure that the House of Representatives of the 20th Congress communicate to the Senate that it is willing and ready to pursue the impeachment complaint against the Vice President.

In setting the trial dates, Escudero said that this would be done in the 20th Congress.

Kasi paano mo nga ise-set ‘yon ng walang prosekyusyon kung mag-set kami. Ulitin ko, Pebrero pa lang sinasabi ko na ‘to sa inyo. Paano ka magse-set ng pre-trial na kailangang magkabilang panig (How can you even set that without a prosecution if we’re the ones setting it? I’ll repeat—I've been telling you this since February. How can you set a pre-trial that requires both parties), he said.

Hindi naman pwedeng abogado lang ni VP Sara ang mag-attend doon. One-sided naman ‘yon, hindi na pre-trial talaga ang tawag doon (It can’t just be VP Sara’s lawyer attending. That would be one-sided, you can’t even call that a proper pre-trial anymore), he added.

In dismissing the impeachment complaint, Escudero said that this will be up to Duterte's legal team.

He also reiterated there's no law preventing a senator from once again moving to dismiss Duterte's impeachment complaint, which will be votedon  via simple majority.