Watchdog warns Senate: no ‘kid gloves’ for Duterte trial

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

The Senate must not use “kid gloves” on Vice President Sara Duterte when it convenes as an impeachment court on Monday, watchdog group Bantay Senado co-convenor Dino de Leon warned, saying the impeachment body should not hesitate to exercise its constitutional powers if Duterte refuses to appear before the court.

“If Duterte ignores a lawful order to appear, the impeachment court must be prepared to compel her attendance under pain of detention,” de Leon said.

“If ordinary resource persons can be cited in contempt and detained for refusing to appear before Congress, the Vice President cannot be given special treatment,” he stressed.

De Leon said the impeachment trial is not merely about the allegations against Duterte but a constitutional test of whether the Senate will exercise its powers independently and without fear or favor.

“The next few days will be a defining moment for the rule of law in the Philippines,” de Leon said. “The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, must prove that no one is above the Constitution.”

“We warn the Senate: do not use kid gloves on Vice President Sara Duterte,” de Leon emphasized. “The Vice President must respect the impeachment process and the constitutional right of the Filipino people to determine the accountability of the second-highest official of the land.”

Duterte, the first Philippine official to be impeached twice, will stand trial beginning Monday, July 6, at 2 p.m. at the Session Hall of the Senate of the Philippines in Pasay City.

The House of Representatives impeached Duterte on May 11 with 257 votes, alongside 25 opposition votes and nine abstentions, and the Senate formally convened as an impeachment court on May 18, with senator-judges taking their oaths.

Duterte faces four Articles of Impeachment:

-alleged misuse of PHP 612.5 million in confidential funds from the Office of the Vice President, amounting to PHP 500 million, and the Department of Education (DepEd), amounting to PHP 112.5 million;

-alleged unexplained wealth and failure to truthfully disclose assets in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth from 2022 to 2024;

-alleged bribery and procurement irregularities at DepEd; and allegations covering an assassination plot, grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez, and inciting sedition.

In a notice dated July 2 and signed by Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, the impeachment court’s presiding officer, Duterte was directed to appear before the court on July 6 either personally or through her legal counsel.

Duterte was first impeached by the House on February 5, 2025, but the Supreme Court in July 2025 unanimously declared the complaint unconstitutional, ruling that the House violated the Constitution’s one-year bar on multiple impeachment complaints, and the Senate voted to archive the case in August 2025. Four new complaints were filed from January to February 2026, leading to her second impeachment.

A conviction on any single article would remove Duterte from the vice presidency and bar her from holding any future public office, including a widely expected 2028 presidential run.

De Leon also challenged the argument that conviction would always require 16 votes, calling such an interpretation contrary to the spirit of the Constitution.

“The Constitution requires the concurrence of at least two-thirds of all the members of the Senate. The Constitution deliberately says two-thirds, not 16 votes, because the framers knew Senate membership is not static. Senators may resign, die, become incapacitated, or be legally unable to perform their duties,” de Leon explained.

He said those constitutional realities are no longer hypothetical.

He cited the previous detention of Senator Jinggoy Estrada as an example of a senator being unable to discharge his functions, pointed to the continued absence of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who has been in hiding, and noted that Senator Rodante Marcoleta is facing a non-bailable plunder case.

“If 10 out of 24 senators resign, are imprisoned, or become legally incapacitated, does that mean the Senate loses forever its constitutional power to convict an impeachable officer? Surely, the Constitution never intended for an instance when accountability will no longer be possible?” de Leon asked.

De Leon said this position is supported by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Avelino v. Cuenco, which recognized that Senate membership and voting requirements must be understood in light of members who are legally unable to participate.