Duterte impeachment trial ‘start’ of holding power to account, activists say

MANILA, Philippines – Outside the Senate on Monday, July 6, the protesters’ message was clear as day: convict Vice President Sara Duterte and all others involved in corruption. Activist groups held on to the belief that the impeachment trial of Vice President Duterte will help make the powerful accountable – a promise which they said remains unfulfilled after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vowed a crackdown on flood control corruption in his July 2025 State of the Nation Address. “This impeachment trial of Sara Duterte is only the start of the process of holding government officials accountable,” Liza Maza, a former House lawmaker representing the leftist party-list Bayan Muna, told the crowd on Monday. “They shouldn’t get away, even President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself who is on the top,” she added. They chanted “Marcos singilin, Duterte panagutin” (Make Marcos pay, hold Duterte accountable) and “Lahat ng sangkot dapat managot” (All those involved should be held to account). Earlier on Monday, Senator Rodante Marcoleta and former lawmaker Mike Defensor were arrested for plunder. Around 6,000 cops were deployed to the Senate to secure the area. Protesters had to negotiate to stage their rally on the street right in front of the Senate, as they were initially held up in the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex. Before this, former Bayan Muna party-list representative Teddy Casiño said security in the Senate was an “overkill.” “The point of the rally is to show the Senate that the public is very concerned and wants their voices heard,” Casiño told reporters. Meters away from the activists were a smattering of Vice President Duterte supporters. They held banners that denounced “political persecution” masquerading as an impeachment trial. Another called on senators to focus on flood control anomalies. There was a placard used in the three-day Iglesia ni Cristo rally last week, “Private campaign donation is not plunder,” a reference to the plunder case of Marcoleta. An old man was carrying a banner that read, “Marcos resign.” Both camps may have contrasting stances on how the trial should go for Duterte, but both condemned Marcos and alleged widespread corruption in government. The groups that gathered outside the Senate on Monday were smaller compared to the anti-corruption rallies in September 2025, or the INC rallies staged for Senator Marcoleta last week. Duterte’s impeachment trial is expected to run for several months. Vice President Duterte’s impeachment case alleges corruption, bribery, ill-gotten wealth, and threats against President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and his cousin, former House speaker Martin Romualdez. Duterte had to be impeached twice before the case went to trial in the Senate. – Rappler.com