Sara Duterte鈥檚 trial: War of words rages outside Senate as impeachment court
VP Sara Duterte impeachment composite image from Inquirer files
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment will soon start trial in the Senate as an impeachment court but another battle rages outside it in the court of public opinion.
The vice president has been charged with culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust and other high crimes, particularly her alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds.
Duterte’s defense team will have to convince at least nine of the senator-judges to acquit her, preventing her removal from the vice presidency and disqualification from public office and keeping the door open for a presidential run in 2028.
But in the public arena, her defense team has to convince millions of Filipinos watching the trial unfold.
Here’s a look back at the war of words between Duterte’s allies and adversaries in the months-long impeachment saga.
Accountability or distraction?
Sectoral, progressive and religious organizations filed the first three petitions to impeach Duterte at the House of Representatives on December 2, 4 and 19, a few days before Congress’ holiday break.
When the complaints stalled even as Congress resumed session at the start of the year, the groups staged a campaign urging the House to act on the petitions, culminating in a series of protests last January.
“The impeachment process is not about personal grievances or political vendettas. It is a moral obligation to demand accountability from those in power,” representatives of the complainants behind the three petitions said in an open letter read at a press conference last January 16.
READ: Complainants urge House: Impeaching VP Duterte is ‘moral obligation’
Then on the last session day before Congress took another break for the campaign season, an initial 215 House members came together to file a fourth impeachment complaint against Duterte last February 5, transmitting it to the Senate.
The move – a scenario outlined in Section 3(4) of Article XI of the 1987 Constitution – bypassed the need for a petition to first go through a House committee.
On February 23, on his podcast, the vice president’s brother and Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte slammed the impeachment as a distraction from alleged irregularities in the 2025 national budget and declining public support for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration.
READ: Dutertes ‘diverting’ attention away from OVP fund misuse issue – Ortega
Marcos, however, continued to publicly distance himself from the impeachment efforts.
Even as Duterte said she had hired an assassin to kill Marcos, his wife and his cousin House Speaker Martin Romualdez, Marcos urged his allies in Congress not to pursue impeachment last November, stressing that it would “tie down” the House and the Senate.
More recently, on a podcast released on May 19, Marcos maintained that he had nothing to do with the petitions and that the process should just be allowed to take its course.
Then speaking to reporters in Malaysia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit on May 27, when asked about the issue, a slightly irritated Marcos stressed, “Why do I have to keep explaining that I don’t want the impeachment?”
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Who has the high ground?
In a press conference on February 7, Duterte addressed the impeachment complaint.
The vice president, appearing in high spirits, dismissively remarked that it was “more painful to lose a partner” than to be impeached by the House.
In response, the House’s Young Guns bloc called out Duterte’s remarks as “[reinforcement of] the perception that she is deeply anxious about the trial ahead.”
READ: Sara Duterte’s cool demeanor amid impeachment just a facade – lawmakers
Duterte then filed a petition to stop the impeachment process at the Supreme Court on February 18.
It sought to nullify the fourth impeachment complaint, citing Section 3(5) of Article XI of the 1987 Constitution, which states that “no impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.”
Despite this and however the Supreme Court may rule on the petition, Duterte’s defense team is ready for the trial, according to one of her lawyers, Shiela Sison, in a University of the Philippines College of Law forum on February 19.
READ: Whatever becomes of SC petition, defense is ready – VP Duterte counsel
Duterte’s camp then sought to rally support for the vice president through sorties for the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino senatorial slate.
The party’s 10 candidates consistently stressed that their supporters should vote straight to ensure that there would not be enough votes in the Senate to convict Duterte.
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Ultimately, only three of the 10 Duterte candidates made the cut: reelectionists Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go as well as SAGIP party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta.
Further, of the 11 House lawmakers on the prosecution team, only two were voted out in the May 12 elections.
This opened the door for Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep.-elect Leila De Lima and Akbayan Party-list Rep.-elect Chel Diokno to join the House prosecution team on May 14.
The trial will commence on July 30./tsb
