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Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
February 7, 2025 | 2:55pm
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte is staying silent on whether she believes she has the Senate numbers to avoid conviction or would consider resigning ahead of her impeachment trial — choosing instead, in her first public remarks since being impeached, to share how her team has been swamped by lawyers eager to defend her.
Speaking to reporters Friday, February 7, Duterte revealed her legal team has been preparing for the possibility of impeachment since November 2023, which she says is when Makabayan bloc lawmaker Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers) first floated impeachment talks in the lower chamber.
The House of Representatives impeached Duterte on Wednesday, February 5 with 215 lawmakers charging her with betrayal of public trust and other alleged violations of the 1987 Constitution. The Senate, which will try her case, remains in recess until June.
Duterte's office had initially planned for her to stick to a brief prepared statement thanking her supporters and declaring that her only response to the impeachment was, "God save the Philippines."
But the vice president allowed the event to turn into another freewheeling press conference where she teased details of her legal team being "overwhelmed" by volunteer lawyers.
"So far, there are no [challenges to the preparations.] But we are overwhelmed because so many lawyers have expressed their willingness to help with the defense. So now, we're discussing how to secure their commitments and involve them in strategizing the defense," Duterte said in mixed Filipino and English.
When asked about potential numbers for acquittal in the Senate, Duterte said it was too early to speculate. "Hindi ko pa naisip yan (I haven't thought of this yet). I've not counted numbers of votes in the Senate. So we are not there yet," the vice president said.
"The legal team is still in the preparation of the defense and what we will do moving forward," she added.
Duterte said she has not spoken with any senators about her case. "I have not talked to my friends in the Senate," Duterte said.
Even Senator Imee Marcos's public opposition to the impeachment did not elicit a response from Duterte, who instead questioned why the senator would choose to push back against the proceedings.
"Bakit kaya (I wonder why)? Maybe we should ask her first. Why would she block the impeachment?" she said.
Is resignation an option?
Duterte also brushed off questions on whether resignation was an option — a move that some observers say would spare her from the trial, while others believe the proceedings would still continue because the complaint also seeks to bar her from holding public office permanently.
"Wala pa tayo doon. Masyado pang malayo 'yung mga ganyang bagay," Duterte told reporters.
The vice president said she has yet to be involved in the legal preparations but that she would be briefed on Friday afternoon. She said she herself has yet to read the actual impeachment complaint against her.
"Nandoon pa lang tayo sa pagbabasa... Actually, wala pa tayo doon dahil 'yung mga abogado lang ang nagtatrabaho. Hindi ko alam kung ano ang ginagawa nila," Duterte said.
(We're still at the stage of reading... Actually, we're not even there yet because it's the lawyers who are working. I don't know what they're doing.)
Duterte declined to disclose the identity of the head of her defense team.
The vice president also clarified that while her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, is welcome to join her legal team, he likely won't take a leading role due to his age.
After news of the impeachment broke, Duterte said she had sent a message to her father through his assistant saying "everything will be alright." Her father's response, she said, was to send her a video of himself singing "MacArthur's Park."
The articles of impeachment against Duterte include seven allegations, with the most serious being an alleged conspiracy to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. This stemmed from Duterte's remarks at a midnight press conference last year where she said she had contracted someone to kill the president, the First Lady and the House speaker if she herself is assassinated.
The complaint also accuses the vice president of misusing confidential funds, amounting to at least P254.898 million in alleged "ghost expenses." On top of this, Duterte is also accused of bribing former high-ranking Department of Education officials by allegedly distributing cash envelopes containing tens of thousands of pesos.
The articles of impeachment also revive long-standing allegations about her involvement in extrajudicial killings through the so-called Davao Death Squad during her time as Davao City mayor. The complaint further accuses Duterte of amassing "hidden wealth" that was allegedly unexplained in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth filed from 2013 to 2016.
The sixth and seventh articles accuse Duterte of inciting sedition and rebellion, as well as "gross faithlessness against trust and tyrannical abuse of power."
