It’s round two! After the aborted impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte last year, another Articles of Impeachment approved by 257 of 318 members of the House of Representatives were transmitted to the Senate on May 13. She is being charged with: (a) alleged misuse of up to ₱612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education (DepEd) from late 2022 to 2023; (b) alleged accumulation of unexplained wealth disproportionate to her income as a public official, and supposed nondisclosure of all her assets; (c) alleged bribery and corruption through monetary gifts and secret payments to DepEd officials during her tenure as education chief; and (d) public disclosure of allegedly contracting a hitman to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Two days earlier, some senators led by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, engineered a sudden Senate leadership change installing him as the new senate president ousting Sen. Tito Sotto unexpectedly. It was a shrewdly planned political coup which included convincing Sen. Loren Legarda to join their bloc, and the surprise appearance of Sen. Bato de la Rosa after around six months in hiding so that they can muster enough votes. When the Articles of Impeachment reached the Senate on May 14, the new majority allied with the Dutertes is already in place; among them are Sen. Bong Go, Sen. Robinhood Padilla, Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, Sen. Mark Villar, and Sen. Imee Marcos.

What happened next is drama after drama including a bizarre situation of two Senates claiming legitimacy, each with its own Senate President, each with its own set of committee memberships; each conducting separate hearings. Fortunately, the impasse was finally resolved when Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian was elected with a clear majority of 13 Senators after weeks of obstruction and maneuvering by the Cayetano bloc.

The Senate proceeded with the pre-trial conference from June 18 to 25 which centered on the marking and evaluation of documentary evidence submitted by both the House prosecution panel and the VP's defense team leading to a Pre-Trial Order, the document that will govern how the impeachment proceedings will unfold. Considering the amount of documents and number of witnesses, both prosecution and defense panels agreed to 92 trial days held only three times a week which means that the whole proceedings will drag to at least seven months, i.e., until February 2027. This is on top of the Senate’s regular job of conducting hearings and lawmaking.

Ahead of the July 6 start of trial, the prosecution panel listed 57 witnesses, while the defense team named 45. Both sides share at least 17 common witnesses, including the VP’s self-confessed former bagman Ramil Madriaga, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, and Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla. As the prosecution presents these common witnesses to strengthen their case, the defense will most likely demolish them to discredit their testimonies.

A classic legal battle is expected as both sides assembled impressive teams of lawyers. On the prosecution side, the 11-member panel representing the House led by Reps. Jinky Reyes-Luistro, Terry Ridon, Chel Diokno, Leila de Lima and Kaka Bag-ao, will be ably assisted by private prosecutors led by Atty. Lorna Kapunan and former SC spokesperson Theodore Te. On the defense side, heavy weight lawyers from the Fortun Narvasa C Salazar firm led by Atty. Sheila Sison, Atty. Philip Sigrid Fortun, and Atty. Gregorio Narvasa, together with Atty. Michael Wesley Poa, former DepEd and OVP Spokesperson lead the team.

There is one important question to resolve which is how to interpret Article XI, Sec. 6 of the 1987 Constitution which states that “The Senate shall have the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment… No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate” which is based on the assumption that there are actually 24 functioning Senators. With Sen. dela Rosa’s disappearance due to an ICC arrest warrant, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s detention due to plunder cases, and the possible arrest of other Senators involved in the flood control corruption scandal, will the two-thirds majority still mean 16 Senators? Retired SC Justice Adolfo Azcuna, one of the framers of that Constitution, believes that 16 votes are needed to convict the VP since Senators who are unable to participate in the proceedings remain members of the Chamber, although a possible exception is if Sen. dela Rosa is declared a fugitive and disentitled from holding his Senate seat.

While President BBM’s popularity continues to fall, and no clear opposition candidate strong enough to challenge her has come out yet, VP Sara Duterte is dead set to run for President in the next elections banking on her solid support base shown in surveys over the past months. A long-drawn impeachment trial lasting at least seven months will exhaust our attention and resources which may just end up with not meeting the required two-thirds vote for conviction. Before we knew it, it’s campaign season once again, and a new President occupies Malacañang in 2028. Let’s continue the fight for truth and justice whatever happens!