MANILA, Philippines – The much-anticipated impeachment trial that can decide Vice President Sara Duterte’s political future begins on Monday, July 6, weeks after the Senate was thrown into chaos and mayhem by her staunchest allies.
The prosecution group will conflict with protection legal professionals in presumably months-long televised proceedings aimed toward convincing senator-judges to convict Duterte for betrayal of public belief, culpable violation of the Structure, and different excessive crimes.
If discovered responsible, Duterte shall be faraway from workplace and barred from searching for future authorities posts, quashing her hopes to be president in 2028 — a bid she introduced in February this 12 months, greater than two years earlier than election day.
Alleged offenses, first batch of witnesses
The case in opposition to the Vice President facilities round 4 predominant allegations: that she misused confidential funds, amassed unexplained wealth, bribed authorities officers, and threatened the lifetime of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Girl Liza Araneta Marcos, and former Home speaker Martin Romualdez.
Her kill risk would be the first impeachment article to be tackled by the prosecution group, which has already recognized the primary three personalities who will take the witness stand this week.
They’re Nationwide Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc, NBI Senior Agent John Mark Calilung, and Captain Belinda Bello, who’s the chief director of the Home of Representatives’ safety bureau.
Bello was on responsibility when Duterte locked herself contained in the workplace of her brother, Davao Consultant Paolo Duterte, on the Batasang Pambansa advanced in November 2024, after visiting her chief of workers Zuleika Lopez, who was detained by the Home. The Vice President then held a Zoom press convention the place she uttered the notorious risk in opposition to Marcos.
Throughout a Home justice committee listening to in April, Calilung confirmed the authenticity of the video, whereas Lotoc testified that Duterte had certainly reached out to an murderer.
Calilung and Lotoc are among the many 17 shared witnesses between the prosecution and protection groups. The prosecution had requested the impeachment court docket to compel Duterte’s camp to specify the aim of “adopting” the prosecution’s checklist, amid considerations that the personalities shall be handled as hostile witnesses.
The prosecution has a complete of 57 witnesses, whereas the protection has 96.
Trial days are from Monday to Wednesday at 2 pm starting July 6 to twenty-eight, after which the schedule will shift to Tuesday to Thursday at 3 pm.
With 62 trial dates for the prosecution’s witnesses and 30 for the protection, the trial might final for at the least 7 months, Senate Secretary Renato Bantug has stated.
Unresolved points
Monday’s reconvening of the impeachment court docket will give the prosecution and protection a chance to ship their opening statements, and senator-judges the possibility to handle points unresolved through the week-long pre-trial proceedings in June.
They embody motions on the opening of the Bureau of Inner Income (BIR) field containing Vice President Duterte’s tax paperwork, and permitting personal prosecutors to look at witnesses.
Duterte’s legal professionals had agreed to open the BIR field however solely in an government session, and had opposed giving the prosecution’s personal legal professionals an opportunity to interrogate personalities taking the witness stand.
The prosecution’s personal legal professionals are anticipated to degree the taking part in area within the court docket, as Home lawmakers, who’ve restricted latest courtroom publicity, will face a protection group composed of extremely skilled litigators.
Senator-judges, conviction threshold
One other unresolved concern that’s anticipated to solid an extended shadow on the trial is the edge to convict.
The normal view is that 16 senators, or two-thirds of a 24-member Senate, are wanted to safe a responsible verdict in opposition to an impeachable official, however the rising variety of non-functioning senators has reignited debates on what the constitutional two-thirds threshold truly equates to.
Senator Jinggoy Estrada is in jail for plunder, whereas Senator Bato dela Rosa is hiding amid an energetic Worldwide Legal Courtroom warrant. Each are supporters of the Vice President.
Senator Rodante Marcoleta, one other Duterte ally, can be anticipated to be arrested this week over the non-bailable plunder case filed in opposition to him earlier than the Sandiganbayan final Friday, July 3. This growth additionally casts uncertainty over whether or not Marcoleta will present up on the higher chamber and attempt to use it as refuge to keep away from detention.
Some authorized consultants — and even personalities from the prosecution — have floated the potential for decreasing the conviction threshold to 14 or 15, though Senate President and presiding officer Sherwin Gatchalian has maintained that 16 stays the magic quantity within the trial.
Getting 16 senators to convict the Vice President is a giant ask given the extremely divided Senate.
The Senate majority of Gatchalian consists of solely 13 members, and never each considered one of them is routinely in favor of conviction. Then again, many senators within the minority bloc — the 2 Cayetanos, two Villars, Bong Go, and the President’s brother Imee Marcos — have a powerful relationship with at the least one member of the Duterte clan and are a lot tougher to sway.
Duterte’s protection
It’s unclear whether or not Duterte will personally present up on the trial, regardless of repeated dares by the prosecution group for her to take action.
Duterte is the one Philippine official to be impeached twice. She was first indicted by the Home in 2025, however Senate shenanigans, in addition to intervention by the Supreme Courtroom, successfully killed a trial that was purported to happen.
The Home, afraid that the Excessive Courtroom would as soon as once more query the constitutionality of its effort to question the Vice President, took the lengthy route earlier this 12 months, sending the complaints in opposition to her to the justice committee for extended proceedings as a substitute of taking a shortcut that had been flagged by magistrates.
Duterte has tapped a group of 16 legal professionals to defend her within the trial, whilst she has repeatedly questioned the jurisdiction of the Home and the Senate over her impeachment.
Duterte has invoked freedom of expression amongst different arguments to defend her obvious threats to Marcos’ life, and has requested the impeachment court docket to junk the case in opposition to her.
The prosecution has insisted that the Senate can’t prematurely junk the case with out continuing to a full trial.
Impeachment historical past
The Philippines, after the restoration of democracy in 1986, has had a wealthy historical past of complaints being filed in opposition to impeachable public officers accused of corruption, however solely two (excluding Sara’s first impeachment trial in 2025) went to trial within the Senate. (READ: How did earlier impeachment circumstances finish?)
If convicted, Duterte will observe within the footsteps of the late chief justice Renato Corona, who was faraway from his submit and barred from searching for future workplace after his trial in 2012.
She might additionally resign from workplace, a destiny suffered by former president Joseph Estrada in 2001 when his impeachment trial was aborted by a military-backed civilian rebellion often known as the EDSA 2 Individuals Energy.
Prosecutors, nevertheless, have insisted that the trial ought to go on within the occasion that Duterte resigns to find out whether or not the penalty of disqualification from future workplace ought to be imposed on her.
Duterte stays the frontrunner for the 2028 presidential election, however the extremely publicized trial will take a look at the resilience of her reputation, particularly if it is ready to air all of her soiled laundry.
The President has distanced himself from the Vice President’s impeachment, however analysts say a Duterte comeback in Malacañang would pose a risk to the Marcos household’s political — and maybe even bodily — survival. The Dutertes blame the Marcos administration for the extradition of the household patriarch to The Hague, the place he’s detained on costs of crimes in opposition to humanity over his bloody drug battle. – Rappler.com
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