House Prosecutors Hope Senator-Judges Will Be Politically Neutral in VP Duterte's Impeachment Trial

MANILA, Philippines — House prosecutors on Monday are trusting that senator-judges in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial will remain politically neutral during the proceedings. They expressed this sentiment as political analysts view the process as politically driven. In a media briefing, the prosecution’s legal spokesman Benjamin Tolosa Jr. said they are “still hoping, believing and trusting” that senators will adhere to political neutrality throughout the trial. “They should participate in these proceedings without any undue discrimination towards anyone, and regardless of their political preferences and affiliations,” he said in mixed English and Filipino. “We are hoping that senator-judges will hold hearings and render their decision based on evidence that will be laid down by all parties in this proceedings.” Political analysts said the high-stakes impeachment trial, which could derail Duterte’s political career or bolster her bid to succeed President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., will test loyalties in the upper chamber. READ: Call for balance should also apply to senator-judges – Kapunan “The trial will test loyalties, expose divisions within political blocs,” Ederson Tapia, a political science professor at the University of Makati, said. Impeachment efforts against Duterte may further deepen the schism in an already politically divided nation “because impeachment is both a legal and political proceeding,” he said. Arjan Aguirre, an assistant professor of political science at Ateneo de Manila University, said it will be important for senator-judges to police their ranks and keep politics off the trial. “It’s one thing for an impeachment trial to have political dimensions; it’s quite another to allow politics to overshadow the senators’ constitutional obligation to administer justice impartially,” he added. Tolosa said senator-judges should be given the opportunity to show that they will abide by their obligation to remain politically neutral throughout the trial. “At the end of the day, that is what our fellow countrymen will surely ask for,” he said. Duterte, 48, faces an impeachment trial in the Senate over accusations that she misused hundreds of millions of pesos in confidential funds, amassed unexplained wealth, bribed officials, and threatened the lives of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., the first lady and the former House speaker. Prosecutors need at least two-thirds of the Senate to convict Duterte, a verdict that will remove her from office and may also carry a perpetual ban from holding public office for life. Duterte’s trial comes as she has emerged as a favorite in early presidential surveys, buoyed by a fiercely loyal base that kept her appeal intact, despite swirling controversies that have led to her being impeached twice. /apl