Vice President Sara Duterte submitted her written answer to the impeachment complaints lodged against her just before the deadline on Monday afternoon, March 16--if it can be considered an answer.

"The Consolidated Answer Ad Cautelam of Vice President Sara Duterte was filed before the House Committee on Justice today, March 16, 2026 at 4:30 p.m.," Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon confirmed to reporters in a Viber message.

Ridon, a lawyer, said Ad Cautelam meant "with caution". The committee had previously ordered the lady official to answer the 2026 impeachment complaints in writing within period of 10 days, with Monday being the last day.

Ridon was the first to among justice panel members to share his take on the Vice President's 15-page reply. He was left wanting.

"The Vice President’s Answer Ad Cautelam fails to squarely address the allegations contained in the two impeachment complaints," he said.

"Instead of responding directly to the charges, it attempts to challenge the impeachment proceedings themselves based on a confused interpretation of due process and the concept of ultimate facts in impeachment cases," he noted.

Ridon stressed that 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," he said.

The lawyer-solon further assailed the respondent's answer and reckoned that it was incorrect for her to claim that the impeachment complaints failed to state ultimate facts.

"A plain reading of the complaints and supporting documentation clearly establishes ultimate facts relating to: a. the misuse of confidential funds; b. the issuance of death threats against the President, the First Lady, and the former Speaker of the House; and

c. unexplained wealth and violations of the statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) requirements," said Ridon, who added that the specific allegations "go to the very heart of public accountability and constitutional responsibility".

"Together with the members of the House Committee on Justice, we will continue to discharge our constitutional duty to ensure that impeachable officials are held accountable for impeachable offenses," he said.

In her answer to the justice panel, Vice President Duterte claimed that this year's impeachment complaints were "No different from the 2025 Articles of Impeachment filed against respondent before the Senate and declared void ab initio by the Supreme Court (SC)."

She further said that the 2026 complaints "recycled" the same accusations against her,

Defiantly, the Vice President said, "Absent any statement of ultimate facts in any of these Impeachment Complaints, there is nothing for respondent to answer. Respondent thus only admits averments therein insofar as they allege her election, assumption to the Office of the Vice President, appointment as Secretary of Education, and her prior offices as Mayor and Vice Mayor of Davao City."

"The rest of he allegations including the annexes and so-called evidence attached to the Impeachment Complaints are specifically denied for being false, misleading, impertinent, and mere conclusions of fact and law," she said.

While the SC declared the 2025 impeachment case against Duterte as unconstitutional, it only did so due to a technicality in the filing process. The merits of the case, therefore, have never been put to the test, especially since no Senate impeachment trial took place last year.