Gearing up for VP Sara’s impeachment trial

By Herbert Vego

WE have waited too long for it. And so we hope that, as scheduled, the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte will finally kick off at the Senate/Impeachment Court on Monday, July 6, 2026.

Will the impeached Inday Sara show up at the Senate to answer the four articles of impeachment raised by the House of Representatives?

According to House impeachment prosecutor Joel Chua, she may choose to personally appear, authorize her lawyers to appear on her behalf, or decline to participate altogether as part of her legal strategy.

If neither Duterte nor her lawyers appear before the impeachment court, proceedings will continue, and the court will automatically enter a plea of not guilty for the vice president.

Anyway, her survival in politics depends on the dismissal of all the charges.

Briefly, the trial will dissect four main allegations raised by the House of Representatives over the alleged misuse of PHP 612.5 million in confidential funds; unexplained wealth and nondisclosure of assets; bribery and corruption within the Department of Education; and death threats against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.

A conviction, which will require a two-thirds vote, or 16 of the 24 senators, would permanently remove her from office and disqualify her from holding future public office.

An acquittal would presumably boost her chances of stepping up to Malacañang Palace.

From this reckoning of numbers, the odds seem to be in VP Sara’s favor. With all the published surveys showing her “No. 1” in the ratings, most of the senators eligible for reelection would probably ride her bandwagon. Right?

By now, however, even her Senate allies must have realized that the surveys do not reveal the true picture. If she were that popular, why do “Maisug” rallies asking for the resignation of President Marcos and for her takeover fail to generate a sizable audience?

For their own survival, the senators concerned with their political future might be constrained to decide the fate of the vice president in accordance with the court of public opinion, which will rely heavily on evidence to be presented.

In the opinion of former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, the gravity of evidence regarding the Veep’s corruption and unexplained wealth is solid enough to secure the votes necessary for her removal from office.

Trillanes, who will stand as one of the prosecution witnesses at the impeachment trial, claims that VP Duterte’s bank records show PHP 2.3 billion in cash flows across Sara Duterte and Rodrigo Duterte’s joint accounts, as well as PHP 181 million that the Duterte family had allegedly received from drug lord Samuel “Sammy” Uy.

In fact, Trillanes had already cited that allegation during a hearing presided over by Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Justice.

Luistro stated for the record that 19 of the 71 entries that Trillanes presented on Duterte’s bank transactions were “completely similar” to the findings of the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

Right now, however, the House prosecutors are focusing on presenting their strongest evidence first. It’s because even if only this one is successfully proven, the Senate may convict the impeached vice president with no need to hear the remaining charges.

As reported, the Senate has agreed with the House’s suggestion to first hear VP Sara’s “assassination plot” against the first couple and former Speaker Romualdez within 11 trial days.

In that case, while it could be all over without completing the impeachment court’s approved 92-day trial, the TV audience would want to be treated to more than threats.