Philippines convenes court for Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - MANILA — The Philippine Senate convened an impeachment court on Monday with the senators sworn in to serve as judges for the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte over criminal charges.

The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to impeach Sara Duterte last Monday over alleged unexplained wealth, misuse of state funds and a public threat to have the president assassinated if she herself were killed due to their political disputes.

Under the Philippine constitution, an impeachment in the House triggers a trial in the Senate, where a guilty verdict on any of the charges would see her removed and banned from elected office for life.

The 23 senators present donned maroon velvet robes Monday and swore to “do impartial justice according to the constitution and the laws of the Philippines” at the trial.

Dela Rosa was the only senator not present.

Duterte ally and Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, the chief judge, ordered the written charge sheet delivered to the defendant, requiring her to submit her reply within 10 calendar days.

“She is directed to appear before the session hall of the Senate of the Philippines upon notice,” Cayetano added.

Duterte, 47, is undergoing her biggest political test and faces a ban from holding office if convicted in the trial, which comes as her father awaits his own trial ⁠at the ICC over his deadly “war on drugs.” But it could also strengthen her position as lead contender to succeed her bitter rival, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who is constitutionally barred from running again.

Marcos has distanced himself from her impeachment, saying ‌it is a legislative matter.

Sixteen votes in the 24-seat Senate would be needed to convict the daughter of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, an outcome that seems unlikely as the chamber is packed with her allies.

It is ‌unclear when the trial will start.

The impeachment trial comes against a turbulent political backdrop, just days after chaos and a shootout in the upper house and a potentially decisive change in ‌its leadership, both ‌stemming from the re-emergence from hiding of a pro-Duterte senator wanted ‌by ⁠the ICC.

Just ⁠as lawmakers prepared to vote to impeach Duterte in the lower house on May 11, politician Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa reappeared to cast a crucial Senate vote to install Duterte loyalist Cayetano as Senate president, effectively making Cayetano the presiding officer for the impeachment trial.

Marcos and Duterte are both scions of powerful political families who ran together in the 2022 election. But cracks soon appeared in their alliance, leading to an acrimonious fallout and Marcos handing her father over to the ICC.

Analysts say the Senate leadership change triggered by dela Rosa’s ‌return may have shifted the balance of power in the chamber where a conviction requires two-thirds support.

“Given that we now have a new majority, thanks to the efforts of Senator Bato, it would make prosecuting Vice President Sara in the impeachment court a little more difficult,” said Ederson Tapia, public administration professor at the University of Makati.

As chief enforcer of the former president’s drugs crackdown, dela Rosa, 64, is accused of crimes against humanity.

The Marcos administration on Friday confirmed it will seek his arrest. Dela Rosa, whose whereabouts are unknown, denies wrongdoing and has sought a Supreme Court injunction to block his arrest, arguing there is no legal basis to serve a warrant from a foreign court. The solicitor-general rejects that.