VP Sara Duterte Impeachment Trial Challenges Culture of Violence

House prosecutors, along with Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno and Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, asserted on Saturday that the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte transcends mere accountability for alleged offenses. It serves as a crucial opportunity to reject the pervasive culture of violence and impunity that has become normalized under the Duterte leadership. Speaking at the Saturday News Forum, the prosecutors emphasized that the impeachment proceedings offer a platform to reaffirm the expected standards for the nation’s highest public officials and to send a clear message that threats and violent rhetoric have no place in society, particularly within public service. De Lima argued that the vice president’s alleged grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez should not be viewed in isolation. Instead, she posited that they are part of a broader pattern of violent language. "This is one of the truly important points—the conduct of a very high government official, a vice president no less, exhibiting such behavior. Threatening attitudes, demeaning attitudes, demeaning conduct where you can just issue threats?" she questioned. According to De Lima, the prosecution has presented authenticated videos depicting other statements made by the vice president, including remarks about wanting to behead the president and exhume the remains of the president’s father to throw them into the West Philippine Sea. "There are related videos shown last week and authenticated by senior agent John Mark Calilung, where he said she imagined beheading the president and exhuming the president’s father’s remains to throw into the West Philippine Sea," she stated. "So the culture of violence, you know their family’s language is about violence," De Lima added. She warned that such statements, when uttered by the country’s second-highest official, risk influencing the public by making violent behavior appear acceptable. "What are those? Those evince a character of violence and which could affect society, making many imitate it, thinking it's okay to threaten, it's okay to kill. Because that's what our vice president showed," she said. Diokno echoed a similar sentiment, suggesting that the culture of violence became deeply entrenched during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, where thousands of killings were normalized in the public consciousness. "I think the impact was immense, especially from the war on drugs on our culture, because seeing blood on the streets became normal. It became normal for hundreds, even thousands, to be killed," he remarked. Diokno further proposed that scholars should investigate whether the normalization of violence in the language of public officials has contributed to the rise in violence in other societal sectors, including schools, where shootings and threats of violence have become an increasing concern. "And I think our sociologists and various disciplines should also study whether this has now become connected to the violence happening in our schools. Because if that is the case, then we need to address this problem immediately before it worsens," he stated. The Senate impeachment court has so far completed three trial days dedicated to Article IV of the articles of impeachment, with the prosecution presenting evidence and witnesses to substantiate its allegation that Duterte’s public statements constitute impeachable offenses, including betrayal of public trust. The presentation of three additional witnesses by the prosecution is expected to continue next week to bolster Calilung’s testimony in authenticating the videos showcasing Duterte’s violent behavior and alleged threats.