MANILA – Vice President Sara Duterte’s legal team dismissed the newly filed impeachment complaints against her, saying they were prepared to confront the allegations and confident the cases would not hold up under scrutiny.

“The filing of new impeachment complaints against the Vice President comes as no surprise,” lawyer Michael Poa, speaking for Duterte’s defense team, said in a statement.

In a report, it said that the statement followed the refiled complaint by lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc before the Office of the House Secretary General. The complaint cited alleged betrayal of public trust over Duterte’s use of confidential funds from the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.

Poa said Duterte’s legal team is ready to address the accusations “squarely through the proper constitutional processes” and expressed confidence that a fair review would reveal the complaints lack both factual and legal basis.

The Supreme Court’s January 28 ruling had earlier voided Duterte’s initial impeachment case for violating the constitutional one-year bar, while clarifying the standards for filing and processing impeachment complaints. The court ruled that complaints not acted upon within required periods count as an “initiation,” triggering the one-year bar, and defined “session days” as calendar days when the House is in session, tightening procedural timelines.

Lawmakers critical of the ruling said the decision makes it easier for impeachment complaints to be dismissed on technical grounds.

Poa emphasized that impeachment processes should not be driven by public pressure or political noise. Citing the Supreme Court, he said, impeachment is “not merely a political process initiated by mere allegations or by perceived public acclaim shaped by the propagandistic effect of timed press releases or irresponsible viral posts on social media.”