Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte wants her impeachment trial to go ahead, days after her allies outperformed at the midterm election that could add to her bloc of supporters in the Senate.
Duterte said her lawyers’ preparations are in “full throttle” for the impeachment trial. “I truly want a trial because I want a bloodbath,” she told reporters on Saturday.
She was impeached by the House of Representatives in February for her alleged death threat against Marcos and misusing public funds, accusations she denies. Duterte will now be tried by the Senate, which is scheduled for July, when the country’s new Congress convenes.
Her latest comments come after at least four of the candidates she endorsed won in the country’s 12-seat Senate race on May 12, more than surveys had indicated. A fifth candidate — who was part of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s slate, but who also sought Duterte’s backing — also won.
They will all be jurors when the 24-member chamber begins Duterte’s impeachment trial.
‘At peace’
Duterte said she’s “already at peace” whether the trial leads to a conviction or acquittal, and that it’s too early to guess how the senators will vote. At least two-thirds of the Senate must vote to convict her, a move which would remove Duterte from public office and bar her from holding any government position.
Marcos and Duterte ran on a joint ticket in the 2022 presidential election. But their relationship crumbled over differences in policy, including Marcos’ earlier push to change the constitution which her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, saw as a strategy to keep him in office. Philippine leaders are limited to a single six-year term.
The ties between the nation’s two highest officials reached their lowest point in March after Marcos allowed the arrest and transfer of Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands for crimes against humanity during his drug war that killed thousands.
“The impeachment is a glorified disqualification case against me,” the vice president said, referring to the 2028 presidential race where surveys indicate she’s a top contender. “These individuals are desperate.”
She reiterated that she will decide whether she’s running in 2028 in December next year.