Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday has issued her formal response to the two impeachment complaints, Bicol Saro partylist Rep. Terry Ridon confirmed on Monday, 16 March.

Ridon confirmed to reporters that Duterte's formal response to the impeachment case was submitted to the Committee on Justice at around 4:30 p.m.

Complainants are now given three days to submit a response. Duterte, likewise, will be given another three days to file a rejoinder upon receiving the reply. 

Both parties may submit their supporting evidence, affidavits, and other pleadings during these exchanges.

After reviewing the evidence and conducting hearings, the Justice Committee will vote on whether there is probable cause to sustain the impeachment complaints. 

A majority of its 40 regular members, plus roughly 15 ex officio members, must concur for the case to advance. If the committee fails to reach that majority, the complaints are automatically dismissed.

However, if the committee secures the required majority, it will forward a favorable report to the House along with the proposed articles of impeachment. 

These articles must then be approved by at least one-third of all House members, or 105 lawmakers, for the case to be sent to the Senate for trial “forthwith.”

The complaints accuse Duterte of alleged misuse of confidential funds in the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, which Duterte headed from July 2022 to June 2024. 

The vice president was also accused of threatening to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House speaker Martin Romualdez. 

The complainants likewise alleged that she bribed officials at the education department and favored certain distributors in procurement transactions.