MANILA: House of Representatives prosecutors said Wednesday that Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte鈥檚 impeachment trial could not be stopped despite the Senate sending the case back to them hours after convening as a court.

Prosecutors told an afternoon press briefing their case had complied strictly with the constitution, adding they would seek clarification over what they called 鈥渃onfusing鈥� Senate orders.

Duterte was impeached in early February on charges of graft, corruption and an alleged assassination plot against former ally and running mate President Ferdinand Marcos.

A guilty verdict would see her removed from office and permanently barred from politics.

鈥淣o one can stop this anymore, because jurisdiction has been acquired already by the impeachment court,鈥� said Congresswoman Gerville Luistro, pointing to the Senate鈥檚 issuing of a summons for Duterte late Wednesday night.

鈥淭here will be no... withdrawal (of the impeachment case) by the House. That is not allowed by the constitution.鈥�

Tuesday night鈥檚 18-5 Senate vote ordered the House to certify it had not violated the constitution by hearing three impeachment complaints before the one that ultimately went to a vote.

The constitution bars subjecting anyone to multiple impeachment proceedings within the same year.

But House member Ysabel Maria Zamora said the final impeachment complaint had 鈥渃onsolidated all the articles鈥� of the first three into one.

A second order to guarantee the case would move forward after new House members take their seats on June 30 was 鈥渋mpossible鈥� to fulfil as they could not speak for a future Congress, prosecutors said.

Outside the Senate, several hundred protesters gathered Wednesday, shouting slogans and pounding on the gates as they called for the body to follow through with the impeachment trial.

The Senate鈥檚 vote to remand was as much a matter of 鈥減olitical survival鈥� as anything, lawyer and former senator Leila de Lima said Wednesday.

De Lima, who warned more than a week ago the Senate could move to kill the impeachment, said the specter of a still-powerful Duterte was likely on lawmakers鈥� minds.

鈥淟oyalty, friendship, political survival. Maybe they are thinking the Dutertes are very much around even if the patriarch (ex-president Rodrigo Duterte) is in The Hague,鈥� she said.

The elder Duterte has been imprisoned since March when he was arrested and transferred to the International Criminal Court to face charges tied to his deadly drug war.

His daughter has been widely mooted as a presidential candidate in 2028 should she survive the impeachment process.

Senators 鈥渨ere trying to protect their political ambitions,鈥� agreed Congresswoman France Castro, who endorsed an early impeachment complaint against the vice president.

Asked at Wednesday鈥檚 press briefing if he believed the Senate was deliberately delaying the trial, Congressman Keith Flores said the answer was clear.

鈥淚 cannot speak for everyone but for me, yes.鈥�