Filipino voters need not wait for the 2028 election season to find out if Vice President Sara Duterte is Malacañang material, because the ongoing impeachment case can already serve that purpose.

Thus, said House Committee on Justice Chairperson Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro in a radio interview over the weekend.

"It is important that all who are desiring to occupy a public position in the future should be the best example of this mandate of accountability,” said Lusitro, whose panel has been overseeing the impeachment proceedings against Duterte.

The lawyer-legislator explained that accountability was the opposite of impunity, and that Filipinos should keep such distinction in mind.

"Pag impunity kasi ibig sabihin nun kahit mag-commit ka ng crimes (When we say impunity, that means that even if you commit crimes), you will no longer be accountable. Pero pag sinabi natin accountability (But when we say accountability), which applies to public officials, it means we are always answerable to the sovereign Filipino people,” she said.

Luistro reckoned that it's incumbent upon the Filipino people to watch and decide as to who will be the next president "in relation to this impeachment process".

"Kasi we’re talking about, hindi kasi maihiwalay ‘yung 2028 election (Because we're talking about, we cannot separate the 2028 elections from this). And the Vice President already pronounced her intention to run. So I think this is one avenue for the Filipino people to see whether or not the Vice President is really fit to be the next president in 2028,” she said.

It was last Feb. 18 when Duterte announced her intention to vie for the presidency in the national polls two years from now.

The belief is that Vice President Duterte isn't inclined to attend any of the justice panel's proceedings. This, after her camp practically said in its Consolidated Verified Answer Ad Cautelam--submitted last Monday, March 16--that there was no allegations to address as far as the two remaining impeachment complaints against the respondent was concerned.

Two days later, in its March 18 hearing, the committee declared the two complaints as sufficient in grounds. As a result, the start of the "hearings proper" stage of the impeachment case was scheduled on March 25.

Duterte was successfully impeached by the House last year, but no actual Senate impeachment trial took place. The Supreme Court (SC) ultimately declared the 2025 complaint unconstitutional, but only due to a technicality.