The House Committee on Justice will begin the "hearings proper" stage of Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment case on March 25.

Committee chairperson, Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro made this declaration Wednesday, March 18 during a panel hearing shortly after it was determined that the two remaining impeachment complaints against Duterte were "sufficient in grounds".

"We declare the conclusion of the determination of sufficiency in grounds. Now, we proceed to step four--that is then hearing proper," Luistro said.

"And in line with that, I wish to add that then evidence and witnesses which will be presented by both parties during the hearing proper will be part of our consideration in the determination of probable cause," she said.

Luistro went on to announce four initial dates on which the hearings proper would be held: March 25,; April 14, 22, and 29.

The House of Representatives will go begin its summer recess on Thursday, March 19. However, the 300-plus strong chamber earlier adopted a resolution to allow the justice panel to conduct hearings during the break.

Taken up by the committee on Wednesday were the Father Joel Saballa et al complaint and the Nathaniel Cabrera complaint. Both were declared sufficient in form and in substance earlier this month.

Senior Deputy Majority Leader Iloilo 3rd district Rep. Lorenz Defensor and Deputy Speaker Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin moved to declare sufficiency in grounds on the Saballa et al complaint and Cabrera complaint, respectively.

Luistro successively carried the motions after hearing no objection from the panel members.

On Monday, the camp of Vice President Duterte submitted to the committee a 15-page Consolidated Verifiec Answer Ad Cautelam, which was supposed to represent her written response to the impeachment allegations.

The Duterte camp's submission has been branded as a "non-answer" by committee members and complaint endorsers alike, since it supposedly didn't give any direct response to the allegations.

This arguably led to Wednesday's rather expedited proceedings, as the complainants reckoned that filing a reply to the respondent wasn't necessary. A subsequent rejoinder from Duterte would no longer have any basis in this regard, since there is no reply.

This meant that no more submissions from either side were expected at this stage, Lusitro said.

House Deputy Speaker La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V, an endorser of the Cabrera complaint, said that the hearing dates mark the start of substantive evidentiary proceedings.

"No more delays. Simulan na po natin ang pagdinig sa kumite upang makita po ng taong bayan ang ebidensya at marinig ang mga witness (We've launched the hearings at the committee so that the people may see the evidence and hear the witnesses). The Committee has spoken, the dates are set, and the Filipino people expect action—not more procedural excuses,” he said.

Ortega reiterated his earlier position on waiving the filing of a formal reply to Vice President Duterte’s consolidated answer. “Walang bagong facts—puro general denials lamang. Maaga pa para sa usaping ebidensya. Kaya’t ang reply ay hindi na kailangan at magdudulot lang ng delay.”

(There are no new facts—only general denials. It is still too early for matters of evidence. Therefore, a reply is unnecessary and would only cause delay.)

"These scheduled dates send a clear message: the time for technical maneuvers is over. The House is ready to hear evidence in open session, allow witnesses to testify, and let the facts speak for themselves. Transparency and accountability demand nothing less,” Ortega further said.