Manila: House impeachment trial adviser and spokesperson Robert "Ace" Barbers on Tuesday rejected Vice President Sara Duterte's statement that she had made no threats, saying the evidence presented before the Senate impeachment court speaks for itself.

According to Philippines News Agency, Barbers issued the statement in response to Duterte's remarks concerning the fourth article of impeachment complaint, which accuses her of making grave threats and committing betrayal of public trust after she declared that she had instructed someone to kill President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez should she herself be killed.

In her statement issued Tuesday, Duterte said Monday's proceedings at the Senate showed that the complaint against her "is not supported by evidence."

But according to Barbers, no amount of denial "can erase what the Filipino people, themselves, have already seen and heard." He was referring to the video where Duterte uttered the supposed threats.

"The Vice President now asks the public to believe that the statements she herself publicly made were not threats. But those statements were not whispered in private. They were made publicly, recorded, authenticated, and presented before the impeachment court through competent witnesses under oath," he said.

Barbers said the prosecution did not invent Duterte's statements or attribute words to her that she did not say.

"The prosecution simply presented to the impeachment court what she herself actually said," he said.

Barbers also dismissed the Vice President's accusation that the prosecution fabricated evidence.

"That is a serious allegation against career investigators, forensic experts, and witnesses who testified under oath," he said, adding that impeachment proceedings should be decided on evidence presented before the court rather than public statements.

"This impeachment trial is not about winning a news cycle. It is not about who delivers the strongest press statement," Barbers said.