Sara Duterte urged to personally explain 'assassin' threat at impeachment trial

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte would help her own case by personally showing up to her trial to explain her November 2024 remarks of contracting an assassin to kill the president, House impeachment prosecutors said Monday, June 29. "The court, I think, would benefit from hearing her explain personally why she said those things that we all saw," said Rep. Chel Diokno (Akbayan), one of 11 House prosecutors who will join the trial when the Senate impeachment court opens the proceedings next week. Lawyer Reynaldo Robles of the law firm Chan Robles & Associates noted that Duterte's team has signaled it will argue her remarks were protected speech, a claim, he said, she should make under oath, not through her lawyers. Robles is one of four lawyers who were introduced as the new private prosecutors joining the House prosecution panel on Monday. "This issue was brought up in a video that she herself said. Our countrymen saw that the threats were made by her," Robles told reporters. "Since the defense she is invoking — that this is freedom of expression — is personal to her, it would be more convincing if it can be heard from her own mouth." Robles said Duterte's appearance would allow the prosecution to cross-examine her "on if and under what circumstances she said those things." Duterte is not required to show up at her own trial. Senate Resolution 39, or the 2011 Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials, states that if the impeached official fails to appear in person or through counsel, a "not guilty" plea is entered on her behalf and the proceedings continue without her. The Senate has confirmed those rules will govern the trial. Her defense has stopped short of committing to her appearance. Lawyer Michael Poa, one of Duterte's lawyers and the spokesperson of her defense team, has said the vice president would show up "if needed" and is open to testifying. Lead House prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro (Batangas, 2nd District) has warned Duterte that snubbing the trial would be "disadvantageous" as it would leave the evidence unrebutted. Trial timeline. The trial proper begins on July 6 at the Senate, running Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons from 2 p.m. onward. The pre-trial conference wrapped up last week, with the impeachment court expected to release its pre-trial order — a comprehensive list of agreed facts, witnesses and exhibits — before opening day. House prosecutors have asked for 62 trial dates to present their case; the defense has sought at least 30. Both sides now concede the trial will likely run past September. A guilty verdict would remove Duterte from office and bar her for life from public position.