Iloilo lawyers in past impeachment trials

By Alex P. Vidal

“The genius of impeachment lay in the fact that it could punish the man without punishing the office.” – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

FOR the record, when the late former Iloilo City congressman and justice secretary Raul M. Gonzalez served as one of the 11 prosecutors from the House of Representatives in the impeachment trial of then Philippine President Joseph “Erap” Estrada in December 2000, he brought with him Iloilo-based lawyer Daniel Cartagena to act as private attorney to assist with legal strategy and litigation.

Senate impeachment rules allow private lawyers to provide expert support to the House prosecutors, but the formal, legal responsibility for prosecuting the case rests with the appointed members of the House of Representatives.

Cartagena did appear with then Rep. Gonzalez during the Estrada impeachment trial, thus making him one of the three Ilonggo lawyers to participate in the historic trial.

Estrada was ousted in EDSA II (the Second EDSA Revolution) on January 20, 2001during the collapse of his impeachment trial when senator-judges refused to open a crucial envelope containing evidence of corruption on January 16, 2001.

The other Ilonggo lawyers in the Estrada impeachment trial, aside from Cartagena, were congressman-prosecutor Gonzalez and senator-judge Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

The late former senator Defensor-Santiago was one of the 11 senator-judges who voted “no” to opening the second envelope, which prevented the introduction of new evidence against Estrada, her rival in the 1998 presidential elections.

Another Ilonggo lawyer, Iloilo fifth district Rep. Niel “Junjun” Tupas Jr., led the House prosecution team in the 2012 impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

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If the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio reaches the trial in the senate, another Ilonggo lawyer, Iloilo third district Rep. Lorenz Defensor, younger brother of Iloilo Governor Arthur “Toto” Defensor Jr., is expected to sit as one of the 11 prosecutors from the House of Representatives.

Defensor, a senior deputy majority leader, had earlier expressed skepticism one-third of the chamber would endorse Duterte-Carpio’s case “but I can tell you right now that aabot ito sa Committee on Justice (this will make it to the Committee on Justice),” he said.

“We have to accept the fact that many members of the House were dismayed with how the impeachment complaint last year was handled,” the solon said, referring to the failed 2025 impeachment complaint against the vice president that had over 215 backers from the House.

Defensor compared referral to the House Committee on Justice as different matter. “It will only be referred to the Committee on Justice, and I can’t say anything more,” he predicted on February 18, 2026.

Defensor’s statement came hours after Mrs. Duterte-Carpio announced that she would vie for the presidency in the 2028 elections.

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To impeach Vice President Duterte-Carpio, it involves a two-stage constitutional process: initiation by the House of Representatives (impeachment) and trial by the Senate.

It requires grounds such as culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft/corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust.

House Committee on Justice voted 53-0 to find probable cause to impeach Mrs. Duterte-Carpio, following weeks of hearings focused on alleged misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, and threats against government officials on April 29, 2026.

The unanimous vote by the 53 members present (no objections, no abstentions) merged multiple complaints into a single set of articles for submission to the full House for plenary debate.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)