ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Renee Co takes swipe at defense team's 'performance' as VP Duterte drops by Senate

Renee Co takes swipe at defense team's 'performance' as VP Duterte drops by Senate

Published Jul 7, 2026 04:10 pm

At A Glance

  • Rep. Renee Co criticizes Vice President Sara Duterte's defense team ahead of day two of the impeachment trial, pointing out deficiencies in their opening statement.
  • Co notes the absence of a clear declaration of innocence and the failure to address the article on death threats, calling the defense's statement a glaring deficiency.
  • Duterte meets with her lawyers on Tuesday but skips the trial proper.
Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (MANILA BULLETIN, Senate PRIB)
Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (MANILA BULLETIN, Senate PRIB)


House prosecution panel spokesperson Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co threw jabs at Vice President Sara Duterte's defense lawyers after the respondent decided to meet with them ahead of day two of the Senate impeachment trial.
Co and House impeachment adviser Robert Ace Barbers held a press conference at the Senate in Pasay City on Tuesday afternoon, July 7 mere minutes after Duterte arrived.
Duterte was nowhere to be found within the premises of the Senate during the first day of the high-stakes trial Monday, July 6.
"We heard that she (Duterte) will be here to confer with her team today. We just like to say that judging by the performance of the defense team yesterday (Monday), I, too, would like to confer with my team," Co said in what can be interpreted as sarcasm or gamesmanship.
"So, we'll see kung ano po ang maging results ng consultation today. But the House has been long ready para depensahan at i-argue yung mga articles of impeachment," Co, a lawyer, said.
(So, we’ll see what the results of the consultation today will be. But the House has long been ready to defend and argue the articles of impeachment.)
Co went on to identify what she reckoned were "glaring deficiencies" in the opening statement of lead defense counsel, lawyer Sheila Sison on Monday.
"Two things ang na-note natin sa opening statement ng defense. One, wala pong full stop claim that VP Sara is innocent. Yun ang hinahanap natin sa kahit anong opening statement ng ating defense. Ikalawa, hindi rin po inaddress yung article of impeachment on the death threats," said the member of the Makabayan bloc.
(Two things we noted in the defense’s opening statement. First, there is no full stop claim that VP Sara is innocent. That is what we look for in any opening statement from the defense. Second, the article of impeachment on the death threats was not addressed.)
"Glaring na pagkukulang yung naging opening statement ng defense and baka wise for VP Sara to confer with the defense team today on that matter," Co further said.
(The defense’s opening statement showed glaring deficiencies, and it may be wise for VP Sara to confer with the defense team today on that matter.)
For his part, Barbers said that the respondent's appearance "is not accountability".
Duterte ultimately chose not to attend the trial proper, which began at 2 p.m. Tuesday. It is still ongoing as of this posting.
The Vice President's conviction via impeachment trial is being sought over her offices' alleged misuse of P612.5 million worth of confidential funds; untruthful declarations in the filing of her statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth; unexplained wealth; and death threats to President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez.

Related Tags

IMPEACHMENT Renee Co Sara Duterte Senate impeachment trial defense
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; } }

{{ static_articles_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.