Incoming Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima has shrugged off Vice President Sara Duterte's "I want a bloodbath" declaration as nothing but "mindless arrogance" and "toxic rhetoric".
"Dyan naman sila magaling eh (That's where they excel at): braggadocio, mindless arrogance, toxic rhetoric, violence," De Lima, a former senator, said in an X post.
"In an impeachment trial, the only one who is on trial is the person impeached. So there can be no bloodbath," she said, obviously referring to the Vice President who will be put on trial in the Senate acting as an impeachment court sometime in July.
De Lima gave these remarks as few days after she accepted the House leadership's offer to join the prosecution team against Duterte, who has been slapped with seven allegations based on her impeachment complaint.
On Saturday, May 17, Vice President Duterte said that she advised her legal team to prepare for the Senate impeachment trial.
"As lawyers, alam naman natin ang galawan ng mga abugado. Marami silang paraan sa batas as a legal recourse for their clients. Pero sinabihan ko na rin talaga sila, really, I truly want a trial because I want a bloodbath talaga," she was quoted as saying.
(As lawyers, we know how attorneys operate. They have many ways within the law as a legal recourse for their clients. But I already told them—I truly want a trial because I really want a bloodbath.)
But De Lima says the only person on the chopping block is Duterte.
"If any blood is spilled, it can only be that of the person impeached, not the prosecutors', not the senators-judges', not the administration's, not the people's. We will make sure of that," she said.
De Lima said the impeachment trial--as a venue for exacting accountability--should be free of drama.
"And VP Sara is always welcome to witness how her trial will be a serious affair where her rights are respected and the proceedings fair, devoid of the drama and chaos that she is asking her defense team to orchestrate," she said.
"To stress, an impeachment trial is not a show of brute force but a sacrosanct constitutional process of accountability. No room for chaos, drama, and theatrics that Sara asked her defense team to orchestrate. Contempt ang naghihintay sa kanila (Contempt awaits them) if they even dare to," added the congresswoman-elect.