Luistro: Duterte places herself at disadvantage if she, camp, skip trial

MANILA, Philippines — While the impeachment trial would push through even if Vice President Sara Duterte and her legal team skip proceedings in the Senate, a lawmaker believes this will put her at a disadvantage since the senator-judges will rely on the prosecution’s evidence.

Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, the lead public prosecutor for Duterte’s trial, said in a press briefing on Tuesday that if the evidence attached would not be rebutted by the vice president’s camp, senator-judges may lean towards a conviction.

“I believe that it will be disadvantageous for her if she will not be presenting her evidence because there’s already evidence presented by the complainant, and the same evidence will be presented before the impeachment court,” Luistro said when asked about the possibility that Duterte would not attend the trial.

“If this evidence will continue to be unrebutted, uncontroverted, there is a possibility that the senator-judges will be appreciating the evidence in favor of conviction,” she added.

READ: Senate convenes as impeachment court

According to Luistro, the trial will continue if Duterte does not participate — even at the level of answering the allegations against her within 10 calendar days.

“Under the Senate rules, even if the Vice President would opt not to attend — kahit hindi siya mag-attend, or kahit hindi siya mag-file ng answer, o kahit walang defense team na dumating — trial will still continue.  Those instances will only be considered as an entry of a plea of not guilty,” Luistro said.

(Under the Senate rules, even if the Vice President would opt not to attend — even if she does not attend, does not file an answer, or even if no defense team arrives — trial will still continue.  Those instances will only be considered as an entry of a plea of not guilty.)

READ: Luistro: Continue impeachment trial even if Sara Duterte resigns

When asked if the senator-judges would lose any basis to acquit Duterte if she does not participate in the trial, Luistro said that any decision will still be up to the Senate impeachment court.

“Well it still depends on the appreciation and judgment of the senator-judges, but of course it is very hard to conceive how you will consider the defense of the respondent Vice President if not a single evidence is being presented,” Luistro said.

“As far as we are concerned, the evidence of the prosecution is strong.  But if the situation arrives, that only the evidence of the prosecution will be laid down and the defense would not present theirs — perhaps for the reason that they will not appear — that will be an exclusive judgment of the senator-judges,” she added.

READ: Sara Duterte impeachment case transmitted to Senate

It remains to be seen if Duterte will attend the impeachment trial, but several lawmakers have become wary of the vice president’s statements as most were supposedly not fulfilled.

In 2025, after Duterte supporters claimed that the allegedly fictitious names in acknowledgement receipts (ARs) of confidential fund disbursements were just made up by the House, Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V said that the Vice President had every chance to clear the secret fund issue, but they did not avail of it.

Previously, Duterte’s camp said that they will respond at the proper forum, but lawmakers questioned why she ran to the Supreme Court (SC) to question the impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives.

Last March 13, Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said that it appears Duterte turned away from her eagerness for a “bloodbath” during the impeachment proceedings, as her recent statements show a bid to evade accountability.

Instead of answering the questions and issues hurled against her, de Lima said Duterte is resorting to diverting discussions by questioning moves to protect documents and witnesses that may be vital to the impeachment proceedings.

De Lima was referring to Duterte’s previous statements last May 2025, when the Vice President said she is eager for a “bloodbath” during the supposed impeachment trial at the Senate, which did not push through after the Supreme Court labeled the impeachment bid as unconstitutional.

Duterte’s statements came after a thanksgiving Mass in Davao City, saying that her legal team’s preparations were at “full throttle” even though they did not want the trial by the Senate to proceed.

“But I told them that I truly want a trial because I want a bloodbath,” she said.

READ: VP Duterte on impeach trial: ‘I want a bloodbath’

But on Tuesday, Duterte’s impeachment team said that they would respond accordingly after the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, ordered the issuance of a writ of summons.

The writ of summons requires Duterte to answer the articles of impeachment within 10 calendar days.

“We note that the Senate has convened as an Impeachment Court and that summons will be issued in due course. We will comply and file the appropriate response in accordance with the Constitution and applicable rules,” Duterte legal team spokesperson Michael Poa said.

Despite the turmoil over the Senate during the past week, the chamber convened itself as an impeachment court, with Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano taking an oath as the presiding judge, and the remaining 22 senators present being sworn as senator-judges.

The convening of the impeachment court came a week after the House impeached Duterte, with 257 House lawmakers voting in favor of adopting House Resolution (HR) No. 989 which contains Committee Report No. 261 and the articles of impeachment.

Prior to Duterte’s impeachment, three clarificatory hearings were held to discuss the grounds stated in the two remaining impeachment complaints.  Last April 14, the panel discussed allegations of confidential fund (CF) misuse within the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), which she used to head before.

On April 22, the panel tackled accusations that Duterte has unexplained wealth, and that she failed to disclose all her assets in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth.

On April 29, the committee tackled Duterte’s threats against ranking officials, with the National Bureau of Investigation authenticating video clips containing the vice president’s rants against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. /mr