Sara Duterte on impeachment: ‘I truly want trial, bloodbath’

Vice President Sara Duterte arrives to address people gathering outside the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on March 14, 2025, as former President Rodrigo Duterte appears for the first time before the ICC to face crimes against humanity charges. —Photo by Nicolas Tucat | Agence France-Presse

MANILA, Philippines — With the midterm polls out of the way, Vice President Sara Duterte is eager for a “bloodbath” in her looming impeachment trial while she organizes rallies abroad to show support for her father who is being held in an International Criminal Court (ICC) detention center in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Speaking to reporters after a thanksgiving Mass in Davao City on Saturday, Duterte said her legal team’s preparations were at “full throttle” even though they did not want the trial by the Senate to proceed.

“But I told them that I truly want a trial because I want a bloodbath,” she said, without elaborating.

The Vice President sees that it is too early to say what the outcome of the trial would be as a result of the change in the composition of the Senate and the House following the midterm elections. The House will set up its panel of prosecutors to seek her conviction by the Senate, which will act as the impeachment court.

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“I don’t know how the senators would vote, if at all there will be a trial,” Duterte said. “I think it is wrong to start counting votes now because they haven’t seen the evidence yet, they haven’t seen what the prosecutors have, [and] they haven’t seen what our defense is.”

Zero expectations

But she said she was ready to accept whatever the Senate as the impeachment court decides.

“Wala akong (I have no) expectation of acquittal or guilty verdict, basta sa akin, tinanggap ko na kung ano ang maging (because I already accepted whatever) verdict. Whether guilty or acquittal, I’m already at peace,” Duterte said.

She said it was “understandable” that incoming Akbayan party list Rep. Chel Diokno and former Sen. Leila de Lima of Mamamayang Liberal were included in the 11-member House prosecution team.

“They’ve been very vocal anti-Duterte since birth. In fact, even before former President Duterte became president, De Lima was really anti-Duterte already,” she said.

Starts July 30

The impeached Vice President is accused of bribery, graft, corruption and culpable violation of the Constitution in connection with the alleged misuse of up to P612 million confidential funds of her office and the Department of Education, which she led from 2022 to 2024.

The articles of impeachment against Duterte are expected to be formally presented to the Senate on June 2, when the 19th Congress resumes session.

The trial was slated to start on July 30 under the new Congress, based on the initial timetable provided by Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero.

The Vice President is also facing charges of inciting sedition and grave threat in the Department of Justice (DOJ) after she publicly disclosed in November last year that she had arranged the assassination of President Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez if an alleged plot to kill her succeeds.

Last week, Duterte submitted her counteraffidavit to the DOJ, denying the accusations.

She said that in the days leading to her 47th birthday on May 31 she would be visiting overseas Filipino workers and supporters of the Duterte family in various countries.

‘Send him home’ rallies

On May 27, she will be in Doha, Qatar, for a thanksgiving gathering where she said she would meet supporters who were jailed when they held a rally to protest the arrest of her father, ex-President Rodrigo Duterte.

The former president is charged with murder as a crime against humanity in connection with his war on drugs.

Duterte plans to organize a “send him home” rally in front of the ICC detention facility in The Hague on May 31. Similar rallies are being prepared in other countries as organizers finalize the permits to hold them.

Saturday’s thanksgiving Mass at Carmelite Church in Lanang in Davao City was attended by the Vice President and some members of her family to express gratitude for the overwhelming victory of the Dutertes in last Monday’s elections.

Except for incoming Vice Mayor Sebastian Duterte, her younger brother, and their father, who won again as mayor of Davao City, all the Dutertes who were elected attended.

They included her elder brother, first district Rep. Paolo Duterte, and his sons—second district Rep. Omar Duterte and City Councilor Rodrigo Duterte II.

The Vice President said her father’s lawyers were already working on some arrangements for his swearing in as mayor.

On May 9, the former president’s defense team asked the ICC Presidency to disqualify Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) I judges Reine Alapini-Gansou and Socorro Flores Liera for supposedly having already formed an opinion on the issue of jurisdiction over Duterte’s case.

‘Maneuver’ slammed

Both Alapini-Gansou and Liera were part of the PTC in 2021 that allowed Prosecutor Karim Khan to investigate the drug war killings, and again in 2023, to proceed with the probe, which was suspended at the request of the Philippine government.

But human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares, who is assisting families of drug war victims, slammed this “maneuver” by Duterte’s lawyers.

“They’re essentially saying that judges who have studied the case and made informed decisions based on international law should be removed simply because those decisions weren’t favorable to Duterte. This undermines the entire judicial process,” Colmenares said.

“By that logic, no judge who has ever ruled on a preliminary matter could continue to hear a case. This would paralyze the entire international justice system,” he added.