The defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte made clear on Monday that they would not back down from the impeachment proceedings and called on the Senate to proceed with the impeachment trial.
This was after they received several requests for comment regarding the calls for the Senate to immediately proceed with the impeachment trial of the vice president.
Recently, the country’s leading universities—Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, and the University of the Philippines (UP)—have issued statements urging the Senate to convene an impeachment court against Duterte.
This development follows allegations that Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero is delaying the Senate’s action on impeachment proceedings against the vice president.
In a statement, Duterte’s defense team stated that they deem it proper to refrain from commenting on matters that are exclusive and internal to the Senate.
However, the team reiterated its firm position that the initiation of the impeachment process—particularly the Fourth Impeachment Complaint “suffers from serious constitutional infirmities.”
The defense team underscored that the impeachment process must never be weaponized to harass, silence, or eliminate political opponents. It is a constitutional mechanism, not a political tool.
“Nevertheless, should the Senate choose to proceed, we stand ready to confront the charges and expose the baselessness of the accusations against the Vice President,” the defense team added.
The much-anticipated “bloodbath” impeachment proceedings against the vice president was moved to June 11 after Escudero moved the presentation of the articles of impeachment from the original schedule of June 2.
Escudero said that the schedule change was made “to allow the Senate to tackle priority legislative measures before the 19th Congress adjourns.”
The reading of the articles of impeachment was earlier postponed from June 2 to June 11 to supposedly give the upper chamber time to deliberate on priority bills. But this means the Senate was left with a few days to convene the impeachment court before the 19th Congress adjourns on June 13.
