Duterte Allies in Senate Should Inhibit VP Sara’s Impeachment Trial

Duterte Allies in Senate Should Inhibit VP Sara’s Impeachment Trial

By Atty. Phil Juris
June 16, 2025

With the Senate now convened as an impeachment court to try Vice President Sara Duterte, one thing must be said plainly: senators closely allied with the Duterte family should voluntarily inhibit themselves from the trial.

This is not about political rivalry or personal attacks. This is about protecting constitutional integrity and ensuring public accountability—both of which are at the very heart of what the framers of the 1987 Constitution intended when they gave the Senate the power to try impeachment cases.

The Constitution is clear. “Public office is a public trust.” (Article XI, Section 1). Public officers—senators included—are expected to be accountable to the people at all times, to act with responsibility, integrity, and justice. In an impeachment trial, those values matter more than ever.

Senator-judges are not acting as legislators in this context. They are judges. And like any judge, they are expected to be neutral—not just in how they vote, but in how they are perceived. If a senator owes political debts to the Duterte family, worked under the Duterte administration, or has repeatedly defended the Vice President or her father in public, how can the public expect them to be impartial now?

Let’s be real. Senators Bong Go, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, and Imee Marcos—to name a few—are not just neutral observers. They are long-standing allies of the Duterte political camp. Their presence as judges in this trial, whether fair or not, casts a shadow over the entire process.

Voluntary inhibition isn’t a sign of bias. It’s a recognition that some situations call for stepping back, precisely to preserve the credibility of the institution. The framers did not design impeachment to protect political allies—they designed it to uphold accountability at the highest level.

If senator-judges with clear ties to the Duterte family recuse themselves, they’re not abandoning duty—they’re upholding the very spirit of the Constitution. They’re reminding the public that public office is not about personal loyalty—it’s about public trust.

And that trust is hard to earn—but easy to lose.

Let this trial be more than just procedure. Let it be a moment where the Senate shows the country that accountability still matters—and that the Constitution still holds.