Senate becomes a courtroom as Sara Duterte trial opens

MANILA, Philippines — For at least 92 trial days, the Senate session hall will become the country's political courtroom. Vice President Sara Duterte will go on trial starting Monday, July 6 over allegations of confidential fund misuse, unexplained wealth, corruption and threas against the government's leaders in a fight that could cost her both her office and future in public life.

The impeachment court convenes at 2 p.m, beginning a months-long proceeding that will test not only the charges against her, but also the political will of the Senate sitting as an impeachment court.

House prosecutors said they are ready to present their case and have urged Duterte to personally attend the trial, although Senate rules allow her to be represented solely by her legal counsel.

The trial is expected to move through four articles of impeachment, each carrying allegations that, if proven and sustained by the required vote, could remove Duterte from office and bar her from holding public office again.

Under the Constitution, conviction requires the vote of at least two-thirds of all members of the Senate. With 24 senators, that has traditionally been understood to mean 16 guilty votes, though any dispute over the effect of absent or nonparticipating senators could eventually be brought before the Supreme Court. Only 22 senators—as Sens. Bato dela Rosa and Jinggoy Estrada are facing legal hurdles of their own—are expected to attend the start of the impeachment trial.

The trial calendar allocates 62 days for the House prosecution team to present its evidence and witnesses, while Duterte's defense will have 32 days to present its case.

The longest stretch, 31 trial days, is reserved for Article I, which centers on the alleged misuse and misappropriation of confidential funds.

Article II, which deals with allegations of unexplained wealth, false statements in Duterte's statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, and continued business interests, has been allotted 12 trial days.

Article III, which covers allegations of bribery and corruption within the Department of Education, has been allotted eight trial days.

Article IV, set for 11 trial days, involves allegations tied to an assassination plot, grave threats and inciting to sedition against the government.

Opening week

The first week of the trial is expected to begin with witnesses from law enforcement and Senate security. The House prosecution team said officials of the National Bureau of Investigation, lawyer Jeremy Lotoc and Senior Agent John Mark Calilung, along with Belinda Bello, executive director of the Legislative Security Bureau, are expected to appear.

Their testimony is expected to set the stage for the first phase of the trial, as prosecutors begin laying down the record for a case that has already drawn intense attention and seen as having with far-reaching political consequences.

The Senate proceedings will unfold under a calendar that stretches beyond opening day, with each trial date adding to a record that senators will eventually weigh when they vote on whether Duterte should be convicted or acquitted.

For Duterte, who had announced her plan to run for president in 2028, the trial is a constitutional reckoning and test of accountability. — Camille Diola, with reports from Kristine Daguno-Bersamina and Ian Laqui