Prosecutors press accountability as VP Duterte impeachment trial begins

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial formally opened on Monday, as prosecutors framed their case against the nation’s second-highest official as a push for accountability and urged senators to shun politics in casting their verdict.

Shortly after a somber ceremony marking only the third impeachment trial in the nation’s history, the prosecution panel of the House of Representatives asked that senators, serving as judges in the trial, follow the evidence they will present and rule on the case free of political bias.

“The prosecution asks only this: Look at the evidence, listen to the witnesses, examine the records and follow the evidence wherever it leads,” Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, the chief impeachment prosecutor, said in her emotionally charged speech before the Senate.

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“Judge this case by the evidence, [for] years from now, future generations will not remember today’s political alliances,” she said. “What they will remember is when accountability was tested, the institutions of the Republic stood firm.”

Duterte, 48, faces the biggest political test of her career as she confronts an impeachment trial in the Senate over accusations that she misused hundreds of millions of pesos in confidential funds, amassed unexplained wealth, bribery, and threatening the lives of President Marcos, the First Lady and a former House Speaker.

“At first glance, the four Articles of Impeachment may seem disconnected from one another… but these are not separate stories,” Luistro said, noting that the allegations of wrongdoing establish a pattern of abuse of power.

“These are four chapters of the same story. A story about power exercised without accountability… about public trust betrayed… [and] about public office that stopped answering to the public,” she told senators, who were wearing maroon robes and seated in front of the counsels.

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Duterte’s trial comes as she has emerged as a favorite in early presidential surveys, buoyed by a fiercely loyal base that kept her appeal intact despite swirling controversy that has led to her being impeached twice. She announced her plan to run in 2028 after efforts to remove her from office resurfaced in February.

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Prosecutors need at least two-thirds of the Senate to convict Duterte, a verdict that would remove her from office and may also carry a perpetual ban from holding public office for life. And while her allies may have the votes to block a guilty verdict, political analysts said some could flip depending on the weight of the evidence presented at trial.

Evidence sought in the trial includes Duterte’s tax records and her net worth statements, as well as testimony from several witnesses, including government officials, bank representatives, and even a court sheriff whom Duterte punched when she was mayor of Davao City.

“If the prosecution presents compelling and palpable evidence of impeachable conduct, some senators may reconsider their positions,” Ederson Tapia, a political science professor at the University of Makati, said. “Their own credibility and institutional legitimacy are also on the line.”

“They will ultimately have to justify their votes not only to their constituents but also to history.”

Luistro said the prosecution team plans to present evidence that the Constitution requires to bolster their case, facts not nitpicked, stripped of political color and described as “not gossip, not speculation and not propaganda.”

Duterte has denied any wrongdoing, calling the effort to impeach her as politically motivated instead.

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“This trial matters not to persecute an individual, not to exact revenge on an opponent, and not to win in politics,” Luistro said in Filipino, adding that the charges against Duterte are meant to show that top officials like Duterte could still be held to account. /mr