Ysabel Zamora: Prosecution to pursue Sara conviction `with same vigor’
San Juan City Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora. | PHOTO: Official Facebook page of Atty Bel Zamora
MANILA, Philippines — The prosecution team for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte will pursue a conviction verdict with the “same vigor” even though President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. offered the hand of reconciliation to Duterte’s family.
San Juan Rep. Ysabel Zamora made that remark on Wednesday.
In an interview with reporters covering the House of Representatives, Zamora said they are even excited to work with the two new members of the prosecution team — former senator Leila de Lima and human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, both of whom were recently elected as party-list representatives.
“Yes, we will pursue it with the same eagerness, same vigor as before. In fact, I think everyone knows that we have new members in the prosecution, after two of our members lost, and we are, in fact, very excited to work with our two new members,” Zamora, herself a member of the prosecution team, told reporters.
“So, we just let the election season pass and now we’re eager to go through with our preparation for the impeachment proceedings,” she added.
Political squabble
According to Zamora, he believes Marcos was just being polite about not wanting political squabble to take over more important discussions. However, the lawmaker said she is sure that Marcos does not oppose any move for accountability.
“You know that this, for the President to say that, it’s just him being polite, and proper, and level-headed. I know the president to be, you know, a man of good words, so I won’t hear vengeful words from him and I think that’s just him being his proper self,” Zamora said.
“Now, I believe that he will hear or listen to those who will, if there are charges filed against the Vice President, such as the impeachment case, I believe that he’s open to having that, having the impeachment proceedings go through, but I think it’s just natural for him to be polite,” she added.
Marcos, during the first episode of his podcast released on Monday, said that he is willing to make peace with the Dutertes, adding that what he wants is to “get along with everyone.”
READ: Does Marcos want to make peace with Dutertes? ‘Yes, I don’t like conflicts’
However, former Bayan Muna lawmaker Neri Colmenares warned Marcos against moving toward reconciliation with the Dutertes, noting that the pursuit of accountability should not be made to appear like something negotiable.
Colmenares earlier said the Dutertes might exploit Marcos’ softer stance. He added that it might also embolden the family’s members in politics to consolidate power and “eliminate the Marcoses come 2028.”
“If Marcos Jr. continues to turn a blind eye to the need for accountability, he risks emboldening the Dutertes further. This could very well be the signal they are waiting for to consolidate power and politically eliminate the Marcoses come 2028. That would not just be a political contest — it could turn into a bloodbath,” he added.
READ: Marcos warned: Do not sacrifice accountability for political peace
Used to be allies
Marcos and the Vice President — daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte — used to be allies, running under the UniTeam umbrella during the 2022 presidential race.
However, months after the elections, things went sour for the tandem. In May 2023, Vice President Duterte resigned from Lakas-CMD, the political party of Marcos’ cousin, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
Political veterans like late Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman believed that Duterte’s resignation was related to the House’s decision to remove the senior deputy speakership role from former president and Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Then, after the House decided not to give Duterte’s offices any confidential fund (CF) allocations in 2023, former president Duterte and the rest of the Dutertes started criticizing Marcos, accusing him of being a drug addict.
In January 2024, Marcos fired back, saying that former president Duterte’s outbursts may have been brought by fentanyl, a potent opioid drug that Duterte admitted using for shoulder pain.
Eventually, in June 2024, Vice President Duterte decided to resign from her post as education secretary.
READ: ‘It’s the fentanyl,’ Marcos says after former president Duterte tags him ‘drug addict’
After this resignation, several congressional investigations followed, revealing alleged irregularities in how the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education use their CF allocations.
The investigations’ findings along with Duterte’s statements that she has talked to someone about killing Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Romualdez if she gets killed eventually led to the filing of impeachment complaints against her.
Last February 5, 215 House lawmakers filed and verified a fourth complaint against Duterte, effectively impeaching her.
Alyansa winners
Zamora reacted to insinuations that some Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial candidates lost because of the impeachment. She said that while it is true the Alyansa stalwarts lost in Mindanao — long considered to be the Dutertes’ bailiwick — lawmakers who supported the impeachment won.
“Mindanao is really the […] base of the Dutertes. They will always get a lot of support for their candidates there, meaning the DuterTen candidates. So, I would think that it’s not surprising if the Alyansa candidates did not get a lot of votes there,” Zamora said.
“But I want to make it clear also that, support for the impeachment does not mean or did not spell loss for any […] congressional candidate who supported the impeachment. As we saw, there are Alyansa candidates who won, there were Liberal (Party) candidates who won. And in the congressional race, majority of those who supported the impeachment won as well,” she added.
After Duterte’s impeachment, the articles of impeachment were immediately transmitted to the Senate, as the 1987 Constitution requires a trial to start right away if at least one-third of all House members signed the petition.
In this case, just 102 out of 306 signed the verified complaint.
However, trial has yet to start as the articles of impeachment were not forwarded to the Senate plenary before its session ended on February 5. That means the Congress would have to reconvene first after the election season, or through a special session to discuss the matter.
Senate President Francis Escudero believes it will now be up to the 20th Congress to decide on Duterte’s impeachment./ MR
