Manila, Aug. 5 -- Even if Vice President Sara Z. Duterte returned amounts disallowed by the Commission on Audit (COA), repayment would not automatically extinguish the separate constitutional questions being tried by the Senate Impeachment Court, private prosecutor Benjamin "Jay" Tolosa Jr. said Wednesday.

At a press briefing, Tolosa was asked whether the prosecution's confidential funds case would be weakened if Duterte restituted the disallowed amount for the Office of the Vice President (OVP), citing reports it totaled around PHP448 million.

"Well, definitely not," Tolosa answered.

He distinguished the COA process for recovering improperly supported expenditures from impeachment, which determines whether official conduct constitute...