Zamora: House not defying impeachment court

San Juan City Representative Ysabel Maria "Bel" Zamora, a member of the House prosecution team, clarified on Thursday that the House of Representatives is not defying the orders of the Senate impeachment court.

Speaking to reporters during the 127th Philippine Independence Day celebration at the Pinaglabanan Shrine in San Juan City, Zamora responded to Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero’s earlier statement that the House has no authority to defy an impeachment court’s directive.

“We are not defying the impeachment court. As impeachment prosecutors, we are bound by our duties under the law. We are bound by the impeachment court,” Zamora said.

She added that the Senate has no constitutional authority to return or remand the articles of impeachment to the House.

"It's not under the Constitution that they can return or remand the articles of impeachment. Again, they issued summons so it does not make any sense that they will return the articles of impeachment," Zamora said.

“What would they attach to the summons? Of course, they need to include the articles because that is what the Vice President [Sara Duterte] is expected to answer. Even if their rules don’t specify this, they do not have the authority. That is our position,” she emphasized in Filipino.

Zamora further cited that under the Constitution, once the House transmits the articles of impeachment, the Senate must immediately proceed to trial.

“That is the standard we are following, as mandated by the Constitution. Their role is to try and decide the case,” she said.

Zamora added that the House has complied with its own procedures and questioned why the Senate issued a resolution that appeared to challenge them.

"We are giving the message that we follow the rules, and we follow the Constitution. And we are wondering why they issued such resolution. We are actually asking them why they are questioning our procedures when the mere fact that we transmitted the articles of impeachment shows that we complied with the procedures of the House," the lawmaker added.

"As mentioned before, we have a big room meeting once a week composed of prosecutors, private lawyers, even some of the House secretariat, and some of the members of Secretary General's office. And then for the smaller group, we also meet another day so that we can focus on each person's assignment," she said.

Zamora also noted that there is no need for a special session from the impeachment court to continue proceedings.

“For example, if the impeachment court issues a directive to the Vice President, the 10-day response period continues regardless of the Senate’s adjournment. The Vice President has 10 days to respond; we have five days. So the process moves forward,” she explained.

“Yes, there’s concern that we might face technical issues — maybe we won’t be able to present if they claim a session ended and reverse course later. That’s why we’re seeking a written clarification on these confusing matters,” she added.

On Tuesday, the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, voted to remand — but not dismiss — the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte. The motion passed with 18 affirmative votes, five negative, and no abstentions.

On February 5, the House impeached Duterte with 215 lawmakers voting to adopt the articles of impeachment. She faces charges including betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, graft, corruption, and other high crimes—chiefly involving the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential and intelligence funds from the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, which she concurrently headed.