Senate readies for VP impeach trial; House concluding hearing

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate will resume session today, with the looming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte among its top priorities.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives, which also returns from break, will conclude its hearing on the Duterte impeach raps in preparation for transmittal to the plenary.

“It (impeachment) is included in our scope of work. Being an impeachment court is included in our job order. If Articles of Impeachment will be handed to us, we must be ready,” Senate President Vicente Sotto III told radio dwIZ over the weekend.

Alongside the impeachment, the Senate has 17 priority bills it intends to work on before it adjourns sine die on June 5.

Sotto said the chamber would focus its remaining legislative days on passing “low-lying fruit” or measures already in the advanced stage of the legislative process.

“The list (of priority bills) is quite long, about 17. Those being discussed in the LEDAC (Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council) and those on second reading in the Senate – we can tackle those fast,” he noted.

When asked if the chamber would tackle the repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law or the suspension of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, the Senate leader noted that neither is in the LEDAC priority list.

While the Senate remains open to discussing them, Sotto admitted that the impending transmission of the Articles of Impeachment from the House of Representatives by mid-May could severely tighten their working calendar.

“Our legislative work will not be sidelined. Even if the Articles of Impeachment arrive in the Senate, we will not forgo our legislative work,” he stressed.

Sotto detailed that once Congress formally closes its first regular session in June, the chamber will halt standard legislative work, giving senator-judges the undivided time needed to focus exclusively on the trial.

House winds up impeach hearing

The House committee on justice will hold its final hearing on Duterte’s impeachment cases today at 10 a.m. at the People’s Center.

Justice committee chair and Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville Luistro said they will come up with a committee report on the case and consolidate the two impeachment complaints.

A plenary vote is being expected on May 11. If at least one-third, or 106 of the 318 House members vote yes to the impeachment, the case will be automatically transmitted to the Senate for a full-blown trial.

The justice committee found probable cause to have Duterte impeached based on alleged misuse of P612.5-million confidential funds, alleged unexplained wealth and authenticated threat to kill President Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos and former speaker Martin Romualdez.

Records from the House committee on good government and public accountability pointed to an alleged “envelope system” and questionable receipts, while forensic analysis by the National Bureau of Investigation indicated possible falsification of signatures.

Luistro stressed that the justice committee’s work reflects a careful, evidence-based process.

“This is not about politics. This is about the 1987 Constitution, about evidence and about our duty to uphold public accountability. The House will now act as one body on this matter,” she said.

On unexplained wealth, Luistro said the panel examined what she described as “forensic truth,” citing data from the Office of the Ombudsman showing Duterte’s declared net worth rising to about P88 million in 2024.

This amount, on the other hand, contrasted with more than P6.77 billion in covered and suspicious transactions flagged by the Anti-Money Laundering Council involving the Vice President and her spouse Manases Carpio.

“We are dealing with official records – not opinion, not speculation. These are numbers, documents, and sworn testimonies that, taken together, establish a pattern that demands accountability,” Luistro said.

Another ground stems from Duterte’s November 2024 press conference, where she publicly stated that she had instructed a person to kill the country’s top officials if she were killed.

NBI officials, led by Director Melvin Matibag, testified that their findings — already submitted to the Department of Justice – establish that Duterte’s acts constitute inciting to sedition and grave threats, and meet the standard of a prima facie case with reasonable certainty of conviction.

‘Defend your sister in plenary’

House public accounts committee chair and Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon challenged Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte to defend his sister the Vice President in plenary instead of issuing press releases.

“What we are expecting this week is that he is going to defend his VP sister during plenary proceedings. He didn’t do it in the past,” Ridon said in a news forum in Quezon City on Saturday.

Ridon issued the challenge in response to Congressman Duterte’s allegations that lawmakers were being threatened with district defunding if they didn’t vote to impeach the Vice President.

“It would be best if Rep. Duterte can prove his claims because I think for the last couple of months, he did nothing but make pronouncements in his Facebook account,” Ridon said. — Delon Porcalla