House prosecution: Sara’s kill threats ‘most simple’ to prove
The House prosecution panel in the impending Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte plans to start with the charge that it considers the “most simple” to prove—one involving an act that a stunned nation witnessed online in the wee hours of Nov. 23, 2024.
It is the early-morning rant on social media where Duterte said she had instructed someone to kill President Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then Speaker Martin Romualdez should an alleged plot to assassinate her succeed.
Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon, one of the 11 prosecutors, gave an overview of how the team plans to tackle the four articles of impeachment adopted by the House to pin Duterte down.
“We only need to secure one conviction on one article to remove the Vice President from office,” Ridon told reporters on Wednesday.
“We will do it on a per-article basis and we’ll start with her threats, (followed by her) unexplained wealth, confidential fund misuse, and then bribery.”
Video says it all
“And on whichever ground, we are highly confident that we can convince the senator-judges to convict the Vice President,” he said.
“The video evidence (of the death threats) will speak for itself,” Ridon said. “You will have basically proven the threat against the President. I think that is the most simple out of our evidence.”
The Senate impeachment court was formally convened May 18, a week after an overwhelming majority of House members impeached Duterte. The chamber currently dominated by Marcos allies formally transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate on May 13.
With newly installed Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano as presiding officer, the impeachment court, in one of its first acts, asked Duterte to file her answer to the charges within 10 days from receipt of the order.
It also directed her to “appear before the session hall of the Senate upon notice.”
Ridon said the House prosecutors expected Duterte—“if she actually answers”—to continue questioning the legality of the impeachment proceedings even after they had reached the Senate, and to also send her “actual response to each and every article of impeachment.”
June ‘proper trial’ seen
The House team also expects the Senate to begin holding full-blown impeachment proceedings sometime in June, he added. “Hopefully, within the next 20 to 30 days we will have a proper trial.”
Also on Wednesday, the Office of the Vice President confirmed receipt of the impeachment court’s summons.
“The Office of the Vice President confirms receipt of the Summons issued by the Impeachment Court at approximately 10:40 a.m. today, 20 May 2026,” the OVP said in a Viber message to reporters.
Under the impeachment court rules, once Duterte has submitted her answer, the House prosecution panel will be given five days to file a reply. —WITH A REPORT FROM ISABELLE PECHAY
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