THE House of Representatives formally served on Wednesday the Entry with Motion to Issue Summons to the Office of the Vice President (OVP), officially notifying Vice President Sara Duterte of the impeachment proceedings initiated against her.
The motion was received by the Senate on March 24, 2025, and a copy was furnished to the Vice President by House Secretariat Staff at her office address on the 11th Floor of Robinsons Cybergate Plaza, Mandaluyong City.
The OVP received the documents at 11:20 a.m. on Wednesday.
VP Duterte is currently in The Hague, Netherlands as her father, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, is facing the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity.
The House is asking Senate President and Impeachment Court Presiding Officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero to issue a writ of summons to Vice President Duterte, directing her to respond to the Verified Complaint for Impeachment within ten (10) days from receipt.
The Senate received the motion Tuesday, March 26. It was signed by House Minority Leader and 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino “Nonoy” C. Libanan, a member of the House prosecution panel, accompanied by 1-Rider Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez, who is also a member of the prosecution panel, and House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V of La Union.
Libanan is “duly authorized to sign all pleadings for and on behalf of all the Public Prosecutors of the House of Representatives.”
The complaint, which was filed and endorsed by 215 members of the House of Representatives, was transmitted to the Senate on Feb. 5, 2025, in compliance with Section 3, Article XI of the Constitution.
“In case the verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the House, the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment, and trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed,” the motion quoted, citing the constitutional basis.
The document further stressed that under existing Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials, the issuance of a writ of summons is mandatory once the Senate receives the Articles of Impeachment.
The motion was filed in line with Resolution No. 39, dated March 23, 2011, which governs impeachment proceedings in the upper chamber.
Quoting Rule VII of the Senate’s Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials, the motion read: “A writ of summons shall be issued to the person impeached, reciting or incorporating said articles, and notifying him/her to appear before the Senate upon a day and at a place to be fixed by the Senate and named in such writ, and to file his/her Answer to said articles of impeachment within a non-extendible period of ten (10) days from receipt thereof.”
The prosecutors further stated that the Senate Rules “shall remain in force until amended or repealed,” quoting Rule XXV.
It provides: “These Rules shall take effect immediately upon publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation and shall remain in force until amended or repealed.”
“Thus, it behooves the Honorable Impeachment Court to give effect to the constitutional mandate for the instant impeachment case to ‘forthwith proceed’ and issue the writ of summons to respondent Duterte,” the prosecution panel stated.
The prosecution panel emphasized the constitutional obligation of the Senate to give effect to the verified complaint and to allow the trial to “forthwith proceed.”
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