Vice President Sara Duterte is seeking to dismiss the impeachment complaint as she replied to a summons from the Senate impeachment court issued against her last June 10.

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The 34-page answer ad cautelam (which means to proceed with caution) submitted by Duterte's legal team and delivered by a messenger of the Fortun, Narvasa and Salazar law firm Monday afternoon, cited the violation of the one-year ban rule in the Constitution that prohibited the initiation of more than one impeachment case as grounds for the dropping of the impeachment cases.

Section 3 (5) of Article XI of the 1987 Constitution says that 'no impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year,' the response said.

Duterte's reply called the complaint the Fourth Impeachment Complaint.

It added that there were no statement of ultimate facts. ''Stripped of its 'factual' and legal conclusions, it is nothing more than a scrap of paper,'' it said.

''Being laden with the conclusion of ''facts'' and law, the Fourth Impeachment Complaint is a clear abuse of the impeachment process,'' it said.

The document was received by Senate Secretary Renato Bantug Jr, standing as Clerk of Court of the Senate Impeach Court.

Duterte is in Australia for a personal trip and is expected to arrive late Monday. She was impeached by the House of Representatives in February following allegations of betrayal of public trust, misuse of public funds, among others, with the Senate impeachment court convening on June 10, only a day before the sine die adjournment of the 19th Congress

House spokesperson Princess Abante said the House of Representatives has also received a copy of the answer ad cautelam, giving the Lower Chamber a non-extendable five days to reply to Duterte. DMS/ Velle White