VICE President Sara Duterte yesterday said she is prepared to accept whatever the outcome of her impending impeachment trial by the Senate will be.
“Ang isyu ko lang naman ay ang impeachment. So sinasabi ko na nga na ‘yung impeachment naman, kahit anong mangyari diyan — guilty or acquittal — handa na ako sa kung anong mangyari (My only issue is impeachment. So I’m saying that whatever happens to the impeachment — guilty or acquittal — I’m ready),” she told reporters after casting her vote at the Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School in Davao City.
The Vice President said her lawyers are keeping her abreast of all preparations as Senate President Francis Escudero is looking at the possibility of starting the trial in July.
“They just update me on the challenges that they encounter in their preparations. As much as I can, I help them and answer their questions. And I point them to the right direction, on where to get the documents for the preparations on the impeachment trial),” she said in mixed Filipino and English.
The vice president earlier said her legal team is “more than confident that they will win in the impeachment case” and that she, too, is “most confident” that her lawyers will be able to win the case for her.
She has also been defending her endorsement of the candidacies re-electionist Sen. Imee Marcos, Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar of the administration’s Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas, and the 10 senatorial candidates of the PDP-Laban, saying they “are united by a common vision — a peaceful and prosperous Philippines.”
Administration lawmakers have said Duterte’s change of heart about not endorsing senatorial candidates is a strategic move meant to woo their support as she faces an impeachment trial.
Duterte has said she has promised her father that in his absence, she would campaign for his “Duterte10” senatorial candidates led by reelectionist Sens. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and Ronald dela Rosa.
The former president is detained in The Hague, Netherlands where he is facing trial by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity because of the thousands killed under his war against illegal drugs.
The Articles of Impeachment, transmitted by the House to the Senate on February 5, accuses Duterte of culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption and other high crimes.
Among the specific acts cited by the complaint is the vice president’s alleged illegal use of P612.5 million in confidential funds during her concurrent tenure as vice president and education secretary.
The complaint cited the vice president’s spending of P125 million out of P612.5 million in confidential funds in just 11 days in December 2022 and her use of confidential funds even if she does not have a mandate under the law to conduct intelligence or surveillance operations.
Duterte is also accused of approving the release of a P112.5 million in confidential funds when she Education secretary, with liquidation reports identifying supposed intelligence recipients with fictitious names.
Among the evidence against the vice president is the Commission on Audit’s findings on the alleged fake recipients of her confidential funds such as “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Jay Kamote,” and “Xiaome Ocho.”
NUMBERS GAME
Senate President pro tempore Jinggoy Estrada said the new set of senators will be crucial in determining the vice president’s fate.
He said that while the senator-judges will have to vote on Duterte’s innocence or guilt, it cannot be denied that the impeachment trial is a “numbers game.”
“We will vote based on the evidence presented of course. But at the end of the day, it is a numbers game, where one is aligned … So, really, a numbers game, indeed,” he said in mixed Filipino and English during an interview with radio dwIZ.
“This is a political issue. This is not a legal issue. So, this is a numbers game,” he added.
He said that having senators who are lawyers will be an advantage as they are already well-versed with the law, but said that non-lawyer senators like him should have a battery of lawyers who can aid or assist them in asking questions during the impeachment trial.
Estrada said that neophyte senators of the 20th Congress should get seasoned legal consultants so they can better understand the impeachment complaints against Duterte, adding, “you have to study it one by one.”
He reminded the incoming neophyte senators to study the Senate’s rules and procedures only once they are sworn into office.
“I would like to remind you that the Senate is not an institution for learning. You have to be well prepared. Hindi ito eskuwelahan (The Senate is not a school),” he said.
Estrada recalled that he, as a neophyte senator in 2004, learned a lot from veteran senators like Juan Ponce Enrile, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Joker Arroyo, Franklin Drilon, and Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel when they were deliberating on the floor.
Even though the veterans were engaged in high-level discussions, he mustered enough courage to ask questions in the middle of the deliberations, he said.
MORE TIME
The Senate, through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), has asked the Supreme Court for more time to submit its comment to the petition for mandamus filed three months ago seeking to speed up the start of the impeachment trial.
In its eight-page motion for extension of time to file comment, the OSG requested to be given an extra 15 days to comply, invoking a heavy workload and the need to attend to other pressing matters.
“Due to voluminous work and urgent professional commitments in other equally important cases, the OSG is constrained to request an extension of 15 days from May 09, 2025 to May 24, 2025 to file the comment,” it said.
The motion was signed by Assistant Solicitor General Ma. Antonia Edita Dizon, Senior Solicitor Perfecto Adelfo Chua Cheng, State Solicitor Elvira Joselle Castro, State Solicitor Patricia Anne Sta. Maria, and Associate Solicitor Paulo Hernandez.
Petitioner Catalino Generillo, former special counsel for the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) handling ill-gotten wealth cases, opposed the motion, saying that both the Senate and OSG had more than enough time to prepare the comment since the Supreme Court resolution was issued on Feb. 18, 2025.
He argued that the SC even issued a press briefer on the same day announcing that it has required the Senate “to comment on the petition within a non-extendible period of 10 days from receipt of notice” which was published on newspapers and broadcast on television, radio, and online news.
Generillo also asked the High Court to deny the Senate/OSG motion on the ground that it is a prohibited pleading under Section 12 of the 2019 Amendments to the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure.
Generillo is asking the SC to order the immediate start of the impeachment trial.
Based on the Senate/OSG motion, while the SC resolution was issued on Feb. 18, 2025, it was only on April 29, 2025 – exactly 70 days – before the respondent and the OSG received the official copy. – With Raymond Africa and Peter J. G. Tabingo
