The Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday said prosecutors have completed a draft resolution on the criminal complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte, but the document remains under review before any final action is taken.

Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida said the draft resolution on the complaints for grave threats and inciting to sedition is still subject to evaluation and approval by the head of the prosecution division.

“The panel has its own process. We will do what the law states,” Vida said. He declined to say when the DoJ would issue its resolution, adding that the department would announce its decision once the review is completed.

“As soon as we have something definite, we will let you know,” he said.

Vida stressed that the criminal complaints are separate from the ongoing impeachment trial of Duterte before the Senate.

“The DoJ’s evaluation by our panel of prosecutors has a separate course,” he said.

Duterte has denied threatening the President, the First Lady and Romualdez, maintaining that her statements were taken out of context and describing the complaints against her as politically motivated.

The complaints stem from Duterte’s November 2024 statements in which she allegedly said she had instructed someone to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez should an alleged plot against her succeed.

Following its investigation, the National Bureau of Investigation filed complaints for grave threats and inciting to sedition before the DoJ, concluding that the statements constituted possible violations of the law.

Vida stressed that impeachment and criminal proceedings serve different legal purposes and proceed independently of each other.

He said impeachment is a constitutional process that determines the accountability of impeachable officials, while the DoJ’s role is to determine whether criminal liability exists under the country’s penal laws.

“That is the process of the impeachment case — to hold an impeachable officer accountable if there is basis. That is what the impeachment court in the Senate is doing,” Vida said. “On the other hand, the DoJ determines criminal liability under criminal law. They are different proceedings.”

Vida said the DoJ panel will continue evaluating the complaints regardless of developments in the Senate impeachment trial.