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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Bucoy claps back at VP Duterte: 'Her answer is a scrap of paper'

Bucoy claps back at VP Duterte: 'Her answer is a scrap of paper'

Published Jun 27, 2025 03:38 pm

At A Glance

  • House prosecution panel spokesman, lawyer Antonio Bucoy has described the impeached Vice President Sara Duterte's answer ad cautelam as a mere "scrap of paper".
House prosecution panel spokesman Antonio Bucoy (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)
House prosecution panel spokesman Antonio Bucoy (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)


House prosecution panel spokesman, lawyer Antonio Bucoy has described the impeached Vice President Sara Duterte's answer ad cautelam as a mere scrap of paper.
This, as the prosecution team filed on Friday, June 27 its reply to the Duterte camp's answer before the Senate impeachment court.
''Yun ang scrap of paper...yung sinagot niya, walang halaga (That’s the scrap of paper...her answer ad cautelam, it's worthless),'' Bucoy said in a press conference Friday at the House of Representatives following the filing.
His statement was a call back to Duterte's own branding of her impeachment complaint as just a scrap of paper.
The impeachment complaint--which contained the seven articles of impeachment--was submitted by the House to the Senate back on Feb. 5. The defense filed its answer ad cautelam last Monday, June 23.
Bucoy criticized the ad cautelam for putting forward a general denial of the allegations against the impeached official.
''Sa batas (According to law), ang general denial is considered an admission,'' said the seasoned litigator.
Bucoy continued: ''Hindi niya sinagot yung mga factual allegations. Sinabi lang niya, hindi totoo yan...Dapat kasi pag ide-deny mo, sasabihin mo ko kung bakit (She didn't answer the factual allegations...When you deny allegations, you should state the reason why).''
According to the lawyer-spokesman, all of the Vice President's counter-claims in the ad cautelam doesn't hold water. The solon-prosecutors' reply to the Senate impeachment court echoed his stand.
They dismissed Duterte’s invocation of Supreme Court (SC) jurisprudence like Balag v. Senate, which she said claimed that the Senate was not a continuing body.
Prosecutors accused her of entirely modifying a SC decision, as she pointed out that the ruling explicitly states the Senate was continuing in nature and can maintain non-legislative functions such as impeachment trials even across Congress transitions. The House wants the impeachment case to continue from the 19th Congress to then 20th Congress.
The House also answered Duterte’s claim that the impeachment proceedings violated the one-year bar rule. Prosecutors explained that the verified complaint signed by one-third of the House members was filed on Feb. 5, 2025, and this was the only complaint “initiated” under the Constitution.
In response to Duterte’s allegation that she was not given due process, the prosecution team emphasized that because the verified complaint was filed under Rule IV, it already constituted the articles of impeachment and did not require committee hearings or the respondent's participation at the House level.
The Senate trial is the proper venue for Duterte to address the complaint, which was signed by at least 215 congressmen, they said.
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