Sara Duterte's defense team did not know about Torreon-led SC petition

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense counsel on Wednesday said their group knew nothing about the Supreme Court petition challenging Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero’s authority in presiding over the impeachment trial.

This refers to the petition filed by Israelito Torreon and eight other lawyers known to be allied to Duterte.

READ: LIVE UPDATES: Impeachment trial of VP Sara Duterte | July 8, 2026

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In their petition, Torreon and the other lawyers called on the high tribunal to issue a temporary restraining order or a status quo ante order against the impeachment trial, after senator-judges elected Escudero as the presiding officer.

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The group believes this situation puts at risk the validity of the proceedings.

“I can categorically state that we were unaware there would be a petition or that there were plans to file one. I didn’t even know the petition had already been filed,” said Poa in a press conference, when asked if the counsel knew about the petition in advance.

According to Poa, while he and Torreon were acquaintances, they haven’t been in communication, especially regarding the petition.

He then clarified that the defense counsel has no opinion on the petition, stating that they will only focus on Duterte’s trial, and that it would be inappropriate for them to say anything against the current presiding officer.

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Meanwhile, when asked if the vice president herself was aware of the petition before it was filed, Poa responded:

“I don’t know, but I would assume she doesn’t know, because we didn’t discuss the filing of the petition at all,” he said. /apl

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