No bloodbath, just winner takes all in Duterte’s impeachment trial 鈥� solon
Iloilo 3rd District Rep. Lorenz Defensor (Photo from his Facebook account)
MANILA, Philippines — The looming impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte will not be a “bloodbath” as she expects, according to prosecution member and Iloilo 3rd District Rep. Lorenz Defensor.
He said the event will not be about animosity but rather which side has the stronger evidence.
Defensor said the House of Representatives prosecution panel has the evidence to convict Duterte in the Articles of Impeachment signed by 215 lawmakers in February.
The lawmaker expressed this belief in a statement on Monday.
So, instead of a bloodbath as Duterte suggests, Defensor said they would prefer the term “winner takes all.”
“It may be better to say that this impeachment trial is about ‘winner takes it all.’ We don’t need a bloodbath,” Defensor said in an interview with DZBB, transcripts of which were sent to the media.
“We just want the presentation of evidence by both the prosecution and defense teams to be clear,” he added.
Defensor’s statements came after Duterte said she is eager for a “bloodbath” in her looming impeachment trial.
The vice president made the pronouncement after a Thanksgiving Mass in Davao City on Saturday.
She said her legal team’s preparations were at “full throttle” even if they did not want the Senate trial to proceed.
Duterte was impeached last February 5 after 215 House lawmakers filed and verified a fourth complaint.
The raps were hinged on issues involving alleged misuse of a confidential fund (CF) within Duterte’s offices, her threats to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, as well as conduct unbecoming of a vice president.
READ: House impeaches Sara Duterte, fast-tracking transmittal to Senate
The Articles of Impeachment were immediately transmitted to the Senate.
The 1987 Constitution requires a trial to start forthwith if at least one-third of all House members—in this case, just 102 out of 306—have signed and endorsed the petition.
However, the trial has yet to start as the Articles of Impeachment were not forwarded to the Senate plenary before the session ended on February 5.
This means, Congress would have to reconvene first after the election season, or through a special session to discuss the matter.
Last September 2024, the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability began its investigation into alleged CF misuse within Duterte’s offices.
It specifically looked into the funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and, previously, the Department of Education (DepEd).
At one point in the hearings, Antipolo City 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop noticed that one of the acknowledgement receipts (ARs) for the OVP’s CF expenditures was signed by a certain Mary Grace Piattos.
Acop said the signature bears a name similar to a restaurant and a potato chip brand.
ARs serve as proof of payment, indicating that funding for projects has reached its intended beneficiaries.
In the case of OVP and DepEd, these are informants who provided confidential information to the authorities.
Later on, Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong showed two ARs — one for OVP and another for DepEd — which were both received by a certain Kokoy Villamin.
However, the signatures and handwriting used by Villamin in the two documents differed significantly.
Neither Piattos nor Villamin’s names appeared on the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) database.
The committee also heard accusations from former Education Undersecretary Gloria Jumamil Mercado, who admitted to receiving envelopes containing money from Duterte.
Mercado believed the money may have been intended to influence her.
She used to head the procurement division of the Department of Education (DepEd ).
The committee’s findings then became the backbone of three impeachment complaints against Duterte filed before the House.
These articles from the three complaints were consolidated into a fourth rap, which the House approved last February 5./apl
