ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider VP Duterte's threat to kill PBBM warrants impeachment case 'in any year'--Defensor

VP Duterte's threat to kill PBBM warrants impeachment case 'in any year'--Defensor

Published Feb 27, 2026 11:20 am  |  Updated Feb 27, 2026 01:30 pm

At A Glance

  • For Iloilo 3rd district Rep. Lorenz Defensor, Vice President Sara Duterte's past claim of allegedly plotting to assassinate President Marcos would always warrant an impeachment complaint.
Iloilo 3rd district Rep. Lorenz Defensor (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (MANILA BULLETIN, Facebook)
Iloilo 3rd district Rep. Lorenz Defensor (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (MANILA BULLETIN, Facebook)


For Iloilo 3rd district Rep. Lorenz Defensor, Vice President Sara Duterte's past claim of allegedly plotting to assassinate President Marcos would always warrant an impeachment complaint.
Defensor, the House senior deputy majority leader, had this to say even as the Committee on Justice was set to take up on March 2 the four impeachment complaints filed against Duterte this year.
"Saying na may kinausap kang tao handang pumatay sa Presidente, kahit anong taon (Saying that you were in talks with someone that was ready to kill the President, in any year), it will always be an impeachable offense,” reckoned the lawyer-solon.
“The evidence last time, matatag yun (it was strong),” underscored Defensor.
He was referring to the House’s impeachment case against Duterte in 2025, which cited the latter's threat to assassinate President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
It was considered one of the most damning accusations against the Vice President, especially since she referred to it as "no joke".
Although the House of Representatives successfully impeached Duterte last year through the "fast-track" mode, this particular accusation and the rest of the articles of impeachment were never scrutinized by the Senate, which failed to immediately carry out a trial.
The Supreme Court (SC) subsequently declared the articles unconstitutional, but only due to a technically.
And since only one impeachment case can be initiated against a particular impeachable officer in a year, the 2026 proceedings against Duterte is potentially the first time that the allegations--described as substantive by Defensor--would be put to the test.
"Kung may bagong ebidensyang maihahain ang mga complainants at ang mga endorsers nitong bagong apat na impeachment complaints (If the complainants and the endorsers of these four new impeachment complaints are able to present fresh evidence), it will only strengthen the evidence against the respondent, against the Vice President,” Defensor noted.
The Iloilo lawmaker was part of the House prosecution team for the Senate impeachment trial that never pushed through.
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.