LAWMAKERS are set to open an impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte next week, officials said Thursday of the second attempt to force her from office.
Two-thirds of the 24-seat Senate would be needed to convict her, but that chamber is controlled by party affiliates and allies, which makes a conviction appear to be unlikely.
Duterte, daughter of ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, was impeached or formally accused Monday of graft charges and an alleged assassination plot against former ally President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Under the Constitution, an impeachment triggers a trial in the Senate, where a guilty verdict would see her removed and banned from elected office for life.
Sara Duterte has announced a 2028 presidential bid that would be derailed if she were to be convicted.
The senators will be sworn in on Monday as an impeachment court, and a summons will be sent to the vice president the following day, before the hearing of the evidence begins, Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano told a news conference.
“There always has to be legal grounds, and I will decide based on truth and evidence,” Cayetano said.
While the vice president only needs nine votes from the full 24-seat Senate for an acquittal, conviction on any of the four charges would mean her removal and a permanent ban from public office.
Michael Henry Yusingco, a senior fellow at the Ateneo Policy Center, said the Senate is now even more in Duterte’s favor after candidates loyal to their family won five of 12 open seats in May 2025’s midterm elections.
“Even last time, they already had the numbers to acquit. Those nine supporters were solid and didn’t waver. In this new regime, they just got bigger and stronger, more certain,” Yusingco said.
While Duterte would likely be acquitted based on party affiliation or alliances in the Senate, other analysts say an open trial would lead to the public display of evidence that they said could damage her popularity.
This would be the second time a Senate court would convene to tackle the impeachment of Duterte.
Last year, senators donned robes and convened a court on live television only to send the case back to the House of Representatives in a decision one lawmaker called a “functional dismissal.” On Monday, the senate elected Cayetano, a longtime ally of the Dutertes, as its new president.
Media presence Meanwhile, a national security expert and civic leader on Thursday praised journalists and media workers covering developments at the Senate complex, saying their presence was essential in ensuring accurate and timely reporting amid confusion surrounding the incident.
Jose Antonio Goitia, chairman emeritus of several civic groups including Alyansa ng Bantay sa Kapayapaan at Demokrasya and the Filipinos Do Not Yield Movement, said reporters on the ground played a critical role in sorting fact from speculation as tensions unfolded inside and outside the Senate.
“When everything is loud and confusing, journalists are the ones who stay put and keep looking,” Goitia said. “To the members of the media who stayed on the ground despite the risks, thank you.” He said the work of journalists became even more important in situations where official statements were limited, conflicting or rapidly evolving, noting that public understanding depends heavily on independent verification by the press.
Goitia stressed that democracy relies not only on functioning institutions but also on a press corps willing to document events as they happen, ask difficult questions and hold power to account even under uncertain and potentially unsafe conditions.
“The country deserves facts,” he said. “And the Filipino people deserve journalists brave enough to pursue them even when it gets uncomfortable.” He added that in moments of institutional stress, journalists often serve as the first line of public accountability, providing clarity when narratives from different sides begin to diverge.
“Without reporters on the ground, the public is left with speculation,” Goitia said. “With them, there is at least a record of what actually unfolded, minute by minute.” Goitia made the remarks as he criticized remarks by Sen. Imee Marcos accusing the president of ordering authorities to arrest Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa “at all costs, kahit sino pa ang mamatay,” calling the statement dangerous and inflammatory.
“When politicians start throwing around claims that the president ordered bloodshed, that is not politics anymore,” he said. “That is arson. You are lighting a match inside a room full of people.” He said the rapid spread of competing claims following the incident raised concerns over whether the situation was being used to advance political narratives against the government.
“People are already asking,” Goitia said. “Was this chaos exploited? Was it dramatized? Was it meant to create a narrative that the government is the enemy while certain politicians play the victim?”
