The House Committee on Justice members' call for Vice President Sara Duterte to attend her own impeachment hearings is stronger than ever, particularly with the branding of witness Ramil Madriaga as the "weakest link" in the case.

Lawyer-solons Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua and Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon have dared Vice President Duterte to appear on the April 14 resumption of the justice panel's hearings--which are now on the stage of determination of probable cause.

“Kung sinasabi nilang sinungaling at ‘weakest link’ si Madriaga, mas lalo nilang dapat harapin ang pagdinig para mapatunayan iyon. Hindi po puwedeng sa labas lang magsalita, pero sa loob ng proseso ay umiiwas,” Chua said in a statement Monday, April 13.

(If they claim Madriaga is a liar and the 'weakest link', then they should all the more face the hearings to prove it. One cannot speak only outside the process while avoiding it inside.)

“Ang pinakamahalaga at pinakamabigat po… para po pasinungalingan ang sinasabi po ni Mr. Madriaga ay dapat humarap ang Pangalawang Pangulo sa April 14 House impeachment hearings,” said Ridon.

(The most important and weighty step… to refute what Mr. Madriaga has said, the Vice President must appear at the April 14 House impeachment hearings.)

Currently detained at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Taguig City, Madriaga is an alleged bagman of Duterte’s. He has been cleared to attend Tuesday's hearing.

Lawyer Paolo Panelo said over the weekend that Madriaga’s affidavit was the weakest link in the Vice President’s 2026 impeachment case. Panelo is the son of former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo, a close ally of the Duterte family.

“If Atty. Panelo believes Mr. Madriaga is the ‘weakest link,’ then all the more reason for Vice President Sara Duterte to attend the hearing and test that claim under oath. Hindi po sa press briefing dinadaan ang credibility, tama na ang puro propaganda—sa ebidensya at sa proseso po natin daanin iyan,” Chua said.

(If Atty. Panelo believes Mr. Madriaga is the ‘weakest link,’ then that is all the more reason for Vice President Sara Duterte to attend the hearing and test that claim under oath. Credibility cannot be settled in press briefings alone—propaganda must give way to evidence and due process.)

“The proper venue to challenge any witness—including Mr. Madriaga—is the House hearing. Hindi po sapat ang sabihing ‘mahina ang witness’ kung hindi naman hinaharap at sinusubok sa tamang forum. Due process works both ways—may pagkakataon si VP Sara na dumepensa sa committee,” added the Manila lawmaker.

(It is not enough to simply say a witness is weak without facing and testing them in the right forum. Due process works both ways—Vice President Sara has the opportunity to defend herself before the committee.)

While Ridon said that Panelo technically wasn't part of Vice President Duterte's impeachment defense team, the impeachment respondent herself was welcome to attend the House panel proceedings.

"Kaya nga ang panawagan natin doon, magpakita na lang ang ating Pangalawang Pangulo, doon niya ilatag ang kanyang depensa laban kay Mr. Madriaga at hindi sa isang press conference ng kanyang abogado,” he said.

(That’s why our call is for the Vice President to appear herself, to present her defense against Mr. Madriaga, and not through a press conference by her lawyer.)

ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, an ex-officio member of the justice panel due to his position as deputy minority leader, agreed with his colleagues that Tuesday's hearing was the proper venue to "test" Madriaga.

“Kaya nga nagtataka tayo bakit sinasabi ng kampo ni vice president mahina raw, ‘weakest link.’ Eh bakit tumakbo sila sa Supreme Court para pigilan ang hearing na ito? ‘Yun mismo ang trabaho ng Committee on Justice bukas para kilatisin nga yung affidavit na ito kung may batayan o hindi,” Tinio said.

(That’s why we wonder why the camp of the Vice President says it’s weak, the ‘weakest link'. Then why did they run to the Supreme Court to stop this hearing? It is precisely the job of the Committee on Justice tomorrow to scrutinize this affidavit and determine whether it has basis or not.)

“Sa halip na siraan [si Madriaga], bukas na dapat ‘yung pagkakataon para kwestyunin nila ‘di ba at ipakita na kung sinasabi nilang wala talagang basis ang testimony ni Madriaga,” he added.

(Instead of maligning [Madriaga], tomorrow should be their chance to challenge him, right, and show that if they claim his testimony truly has no basis, then that will be revealed.)

Ridon also raised the possibility that Vice President Duterte may never attend the justice panel's hearings, in order to be consistent with her defense team's strategy.

“The moment na magpakita ang pangalawang pangulo doon, ang kanyang kaso sa Korte Suprema I think will be mooted entirely (The moment the Vice President appears there, I believe her case before the Supreme Court will be rendered entirely moot)," he said.

“While malaya ang ating Pangalawang Pangulo na humarap (While the Vice President is free to attend)… she will be afforded all her rights. But again, in terms of their legal strategy, she will have acknowledged the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Justice,” Ridon explained.

The Duterte camp filed last week before the SC a 58-page petition for certiorari and prohibition, which sought a temporary restraining order on the impeachment proceedings. It said that it didn't recognize the justice's committee's authority to hold the hearings.

This notwithstanding, Ridon said: “Bukas po ang House impeachment hearing sa atin pong Vice President… meron po siyang karapatan na maglahad ng kanyang ebidensya sa araw po na iyon at sa mga susunod na pagdinig."

(The House impeachment hearing is open to our Vice President… she has the right to present her evidence on that day and in the succeeding hearings.)