Philippine VP Duterte Impeachment: Prosecutors Speed Up Process, Drop Bribery Charge

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The fourth and final charge of bribery against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte in the ongoing impeachment trial has been dropped by the prosecutors, noting they have already presented sufficient evidence on three other charges that would ensure her conviction and removal from office.

Confident in their case against Duterte, prosecutors from the Philippine House of Representatives (HOR) said they wanted to avoid unnecessarily prolonging the trial.

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The fourth impeachment complaint involves allegations that Duterte bribed Department of Education (DepEd) officials to influence procurement decisions during her tenure as education secretary.

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Observers said the trial could conclude before the end of the year, depending on how long Duterte's lawyers would argue against her removal from office.

Public prosecutor and representative Jonathan Keith Flores noted the decision to drop the bribery charge was entirely within the prosecution's discretion and had drawn no objection from the impeachment court.

He said they have already presented sufficient evidence on the three other articles of impeachment and that pursuing the bribery charge would only prolong the proceedings, and extending the trial would test the patience of the senator-judges and the public.

Fellow HOR prosecutor Rodge Gutierrez emphasised that each impeachment article stood independently, regardless of the decision to drop one of the charges.

“All articles that were filed in the impeachment would stand on their own,” Gutierrez said.

Senator-judge Francis Pangilinan welcomed the prosecution's decision, saying a shorter witness list could speed up the defence's presentation.

What has the trial discussed so far?

The prosecution has already presented evidence concerning Duterte's alleged misuse of confidential funds from the Office of the Vice President and DepEd, as well as alleged threats against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez during a November 2024 livestream.

It is now completing its presentation of evidence on the vice president's alleged unexplained wealth, based on bank transactions, tax records, property documents and Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth involving Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio.

Prosecution witness and forensic financial analyst Alexander Cabrera testified that the vice president and her husband may have accumulated as much as P817.87 million (Dh48.6 million) in alleged undisclosed wealth and undeclared income between 2022 and 2025 alone. This is far higher than the couple's declared fortune of P98.65 million (Dh5.87 million) at the end of 2025.

Flores said the prosecution would rest its case after completing its presentation of evidence on the unexplained wealth allegations.

More trouble for Duterte?

The prosecution's decision to drop the final charge came after senator-judge Mark Villar formally switched sides from the pro-Duterte camp.

Senator-judge Juan Miguel Zubiri said Villar had approached the majority bloc to request a transfer.

“It was him who requested to join the majority,” Zubiri said, adding that Villar wanted to be“more productive”.

After his transfer, Villar was immediately given the powerful Senate Committee on Public Works and appointed as a member of the Commission on Appointments. His sister, senator-judge Camille Villar, remained in the pro-Duterte Senate minority bloc.

Pangilinan, meanwhile, said the minority bloc's numbers could be further reduced to nine, hinting that Senator-judge Loren Legarda might rejoin the majority once she returns from her extended medical leave in France.

“She came from that [majority] group. As I said, they were originally a solid bloc,” Pangilinan said in a radio interview on Sunday.“We'll see whether she will transfer or not,” he added.

With two pro-Duterte senators in detention over plunder charges and another in hiding to evade an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, the vice president may be left with only six senators supporting her acquittal: Imee Marcos, Christopher Lawrence Go, Camille Villar, Pia Cayetano, Alan Peter Cayetano and Robinhood Padilla.

Facing dwindling numbers, Padilla and Go have petitioned the Philippine Supreme Court to restore the conviction threshold to 16 votes.

“If this continues, there may come a point when we (the minority) will no longer attend the trial,” Padilla said on Sunday.

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