- Vice President Sara Duterte files response to Senate (June 1, 2026) - Replay — GMA News

[0:00] Through the media, so and yun nga po, meron tayong rules on prohibiting us from discussing the merits publicly. [0:09] So magbibigil lang po kami ng executive summary sa inyo para may magamit naman po kayo ng material at makita nyo naman po kung ano yung basically the gist yung naging sagot. [0:19] So how was it? [0:21] Well, the nomenclature, it's an answer, but obviously our answer is being filed without prejudice sa aming Supreme Court petition. [0:39] Yes, of course, it's always going to be one of our prayers. [0:41] Dahil nga sa tingin namin, may mga infirmities, yung proceedings, bago pa umakyat sa Senado itong articles of impeachment. [0:51] But having said that, sabi ko nga, maliban doon, sumagot din kami on the substantive issues. [1:00] Of course, kaya po kami nandito, dahil yun nga, parating sinasabi kailan naharap si VP, but I think we have to contextualize yung paghaharap. [1:09] The fact that we filed an answer now, kung naharap na ni VP, itong mga paratang laban sa kanya. [1:15] Well, the documents, dumami lang po yun dahil syempre meron tayong mga annexes, mga attachments doon sa ating answer. [1:28] Kaya po marami yun, but the answer itself is around 50 pages, kasama na dyan yung signature pages. [1:35] So, nasa ganun lang po yung answer natin, but baka kasi magulat kayo, metho nakamaleta nga. [1:42] But that's because marami lang po talaga mga annexes. [1:46] Copies, we had to give five copies as required by the impeachment. [1:51] Itong limang maleta, documents lang po? [1:55] Documents po, documents. Although wala na pong laman yan, dahil na-file na po namin ang ating answer. [2:01] Yes, that's one of the prayers sa answer namin na sinasabi namin, meron ng infirmities yung naging proceedings. [2:15] That's why we feel that it warrants dismissal. [2:19] Also, we have raised our objections on the alleged pieces of evidence against the Vice President. [2:26] By the way, sinasabi nga natin, and we have to reiterate, yung mga pieces of evidence na yan, [2:31] na hindi naman naka-attach sa original complaints, and itong mga pieces of evidence na ito ay nakalap lang noong ongoing yung proceedings [2:41] ng Committee on Justice, and after we have fathered answers. [2:45] So, to us, you know, this goes into basic tenets of due process. [2:54] Kung kinakailangan, sa ngayon, you know, we don't really want to box ourselves in kung kailan, [3:00] di ba kasi parating yan yung tanong, but kung kinakailangan naman, [3:03] we'll have to see, that will have to be determined, no, on the developments of the proceedings. [3:09] Well, actually, lahat. Lahat ng mga lumabas. I'm sure you were following the hearings, no? [3:22] So, AMLOC reports, for example, lahat yan. Wala naman yan sa, hindi yan naka-attach sa original impeachment. [3:30] Well, we raised an opposition and our objections, basically, on the admissibility of pieces of evidence. [3:45] So, but we'll see. We'll see. Siyempre, ang ultimate prayer talaga namin ay ma-dismiss. [3:55] Tayo po kasi ay depensa. So, tayo ay maghihintay muna. [3:59] Of course, we have witnesses in mind, but as to the details, hintayin muna natin kasi ang burden of evidence dito ay nasa prosecution, no? [4:08] So, once they present their evidence, doon natin mag-determine kung ano ba yung kailangan natin i-presenta to rebut whatever they presented. [4:22] The vice president po, the vice president. Well, we are confident. [4:32] Well, not just the proceedings, ma'am. We question the proceedings, but we also... [4:37] As part of our answer, talagang sinigot din natin yung substantive part, no? [4:43] Meaning the allegations themselves, no? The four articles of impeachment. [4:46] As I said, ultimately, siyempre, dismissal po, no? [4:57] Nang articles of impeachment. [5:00] Titignan natin kung ano yung mangyayari sa proceedings, and... [5:03] We will participate, and definitely, we will abide by what is constitutionally permissible and the constitutional processes laid down. [5:16] Yeah, hintayin lang po natin yung development ng proceedings, no? [5:21] No, it's not really the summons. It depends kasi kung ano yung takbo ng proceedings. [5:25] I cannot tell you exactly kung ano yun, but... [5:28] Tingnan muna natin pa paano tumakbo yung proceedings. [5:35] Nakita ko, I don't know if that's official. [5:37] May nakita lang ako sa SOC Media taa kanina. [5:41] I don't know if that's official. [5:43] But whatever is the official calendar, we will just abide by the calendar. [5:46] Of course, alam nyo, parati kung sinasabi, parati namin sinasabi sa defense team, [5:58] we should always give the senator judges the benefit of the doubt. [6:03] Although, we have to admit, and we're not naive to the fact that impeachment is both a political and a legal process, [6:10] we believe in political neutrality of the senator judges. [6:14] So, kung meron mga partiality, huwag po muna natin, kumbaga, bigyan ng badge of any partiality, [6:21] kahit sinong senador, mapa-pro or anti, hindi ba? [6:25] We have to keep the senator judges the benefit of the doubt, and we submit whatever happens. [6:45] Yes, because as far as we're concerned, we're very confident with our legal position. [6:49] We are very confident that wala namang nagawang impeachable offense ang ating vice-presidente. [6:55] But these things will be threshed out. It will depend on the pieces of evidence that will be presented, [7:01] the witnesses that will be presenting those pieces of evidence. [7:04] So, hindi natin alam, susunod lang tayo kung ano yung magiging schedule. [7:09] But tayo, we are ready to confront all of these allegations. [7:20] Well, again, I will just have to restate what I said earlier. [7:26] We have raised what we saw or what we believe in as constitutional infirmities, [7:31] infirmities, defects in the procedure, and also the deficiency on the substantive aspect of these allegations. [7:41] We feel that the allegations do not rise to the level of impeachable offenses against the vice-president. [7:47] So, and for that, you know, those are the grounds by which we think this missile is warranted. [7:53] But, like I said, let's see how things turn out. [7:58] Pasta tayo sa defense team, we are definitely ready to provide the vice-president with the best defense. [8:06] Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.