It looks like eight of them will very likely vote for Vice-President Duterte’s acquittal and four of them very likely for her conviction.
At the stroke of midnight on June 30, 2025, nine men and three women officially became members of the Senate of the 20th Congress of the Philippines. Automatically, they became members of the impeachment court created by the Senate of the 19th Congress to try the charges filed by the 19th-Congress House of Representatives against Vice-President Sara Duterte.
As members of the impeachment court, the new senators, like the 12 other senators, bear a heavy responsibility, for, by deciding to either acquit or convict the Vice President, they will determine whether Sara Duterte can be a candidate for President in the 2028 general election. Perpetual disqualification from holding public office is one of the penalties imposed on a convicted impeachable official.
The most serious of the House of Representatives’ seven Articles of Impeachment is the alleged misuse by Vice-President Duterte of P612 million appropriated by Congress for the Office of the Vice-President and the Department of Education, which she headed from July 2022 until her resignation in 2024. To support this charge, the Lower House’s prosecutors will be presenting audit reports of the Commission on Audit (COA). That is formidable evidence.
Like the senators elected before then, the senators elected in 2025 may be divided into two groups. One group is made up of those men and women, acting in accordance with the belief that an impeachment trial is essentially a political exercise, will totally disregard the evidence presented by the prosecutors and acquit Sara Duterte. The other group is made up of those senators who, faithful to the judge’s oath that they took, will hear the evidence against the Vice-President and acquit or convict her on the basis thereof.
Considering the far-reaching consequences of the impeachment trial’s outcome for the post-2027 governance of this country – especially the management of its economy – the Filipino people need to have an idea as to whether the 12 new Senator-judges are likely to perform their function in a partisan manner or are likely to decide the impeachment case according to the evidence that is presented at the trial. A brief review of their personal philosophies and professional records will provide that idea.
Three of the new senators – Christopher Go, Ronald de la Rosa and Rodante Marcoleta – are known supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte and have publicly declared their support for the Vice-President, in violation of the oath they took, as judges, to judge her impeachment case impartially. They are going to vote for Sara Duterte’s acquittal.
Sen. Lito Lapid flew to The Hague to express his sympathy for the detained former President. He should be expected to acquit the Vice-President. By her public utterances and actions – including holding Senate foreign relations committee hearings on the arrest and hand-over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) of Rodrigo Duterte—Sen. Imee Marcos has declared her support for the Dutertes and her inclination to acquit Vice-President Duterte of the Impeachment charges.
The youngest member of the Villar political-business family, Camille Villar has yet to display political constancy. Though she was a part of the administration’s 2025 senatorial slate, she accepted the endorsement of Sara Duterte. Camille Villar will very probably vote for the Vice-President’s acquittal.
There are several reasons why Sen. Bam Aquino is highly unlikely to vote for Sara Duterte’s acquittal. The foremost reason is that Bam is the nephew of Ninoy and Cory Aquino. A Bam Aquino vote for the acquittal of Vice-President is bound to be regarded by millions of Filipinos as a stain on the Aquino family’s escutcheon.
Pia Cayetano is the sister of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who was the running mate of Sara Duterte’s Presidential-candidate father in the 2022 election. Though her training as a lawyer would require her to pass judgment on the basis of evidence presented, Pia probably will join her brother in a brother-and-sister vote for Sara Duterte’s acquittal.
Anyone who is in any doubt as to how Sen. Panfilo Lacson will judge Sara Duterte only needs to remember that Lacson was one of two senators—the other being the late Joker Arroyo —who refused to accept their pork barrel allotments. The former Philippine National Police chief can be expected to cast a vote for conviction.
Erwin Tulfo is the brother of Sen. Raffy Tulfo, who has been figuring highly in recent surveys of potential Presidential candidates in the 2028 election. Because a vote of acquittal would allow Sara Duterte to run for President in that election, Erwin can be expected to find Sara Duterte guilty of the impeachment charges.
A true-blue Liberal, Sen. Kiko Pangilinan ran for Vice-President against Sara Duterte in the 2022 election. He can hardly be expected to take a sympathetic attitude toward the evidence that the House of Representatives prosecutors will present against the Vice-President. Kiko Pangilinan will vote to convict.
Lastly, there is former Senate president Tito Sotto. Having been a part of the administration’s 2025 Senatorial slate, Sotto is expected to cast a vote for Sara Duterte’s conviction. Another factor that renders likely a Sotto vote for conviction is the support-for-Escudero announcement of the 7 senators (Go, De la Rosa, Marcoleta, Robinhood Padilla, Marcos, Camille Villar and Mark Villar) in the coming contest for the Senate presidency between incumbent president Chiz Escudero and Tito Sotto.
If the foregoing evaluation of the twelve newly-minted Senators is on-point, it looks like eight of them will very likely vote for Vice-President Duterte’s acquittal and four of them very likely for her conviction.
(llagasjessa@yahoo.com)
