ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Hontiveros: VP Sara should just answer Senate impeachment court's summons

Hontiveros: VP Sara should just answer Senate impeachment court's summons

Published Jun 17, 2025 01:40 pm

At A Glance

  • "We've all been waiting for her response..." Sen. Risa Hontiveros said.
Vice President Sara Duterte (PPAB)
Vice President Sara Duterte (PPAB)
Vice President Sara Duterte should just answer the Senate impeachment court’s summons which the body issued to her last week, Senator Risa Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros pointed this out after the vice president suggested that she also inhibit if her allies in the Senate would be forced to inhibit over perceptions of being bias.
“One good way for the Vice President to start presenting her arguments is by filing an answer to the summons issued by the Senate impeachment court last week,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
“Hinihintay nating lahat ang kanyang magiging tugon dito, at sa mga susunod na proseso kaugnay ng impeachment trial (We’ve all been waiting her response to this, and on the next processes regarding the impeachment trial),” she said.
Nevertheless, Hontiveros said that as senator-judge in the upcoming proceedings, she will thoroughly study all the evidences that would be presented during the trial.
“Gaya nung sinabi ko dati pa, bilang (As I’ve said before, as a) senator-judge ay titingnan natin ng maigi ang lahat ng ebidensiya na ipepresenta sa impeachment trial ni (we will thoroughly check all the evidence that will be presented in the impeachment trial of) VP Sara Duterte,” she said.
The opposition senator said this is one thing she swore to do when senators formally took their oath to be senator-judges when the Senate formally convened into an impeachment court last June 10.
“Noong nanumpa kami bilang senator-judge, naging tungkulin namin sa Senado na suriin at bumoto ayon sa bigat ng ebidensiya na ilalahad ng magkabilang panig sa impeachment trial (When we were sworn in as senator-judges, it was our duty in the Senate to review and vote according to the weight of the evidence presented by both sides in the impeachment trial),” she stressed.
Kakampi man, o kritiko ng pangalawang pangulo, sinusunod ko po ang tungkulin na iyan, at inaasahan ko rin ito sa ibang senador (Whether an ally or a critic of the vice president, I follow that duty, and I expect the same from other senators),” she said.
Meanwhile, the Senate impeachment court has been informed that lawyers from the Fortun Narvasa & Salazar law firm will defend the vice president.
At least 16 lawyers, led by Philip Sigfried Fortun, will represent Duterte.

Related Tags

impeachment court impeachment trial Risa Hontiveros VP Sara Duterte Senate impeachment proceedings Philippines 2025
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.