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Alexis Romero - The Philippine Star
June 18, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Dialogue with lawmakers is on the table for President Marcos – but only on pending pieces of legislation and not on the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, Malacañang clarified yesterday.
Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro made this clear at a briefing, saying a dialogue on the Duterte impeachment is out of the question for the Chief Executive.
“The President is not open to any dialogue regarding the impeachment trial or proceedings,” Castro said.
Earlier, Castro said Marcos won’t meddle in the impeachment proceedings against Duterte as he is focused on addressing the concerns of Filipinos.
Duterte, who ran alongside Marcos in 2022 but had a falling out with the President, was impeached by the House of Representatives last February.
Complainants cited her supposed failure to properly account for the confidential funds allocated to her office, and the alleged conspiracy to assassinate Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos and Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, among other accusations.
The Vice President has denied all allegations and has questioned the validity of her impeachment before the Supreme Court.
At the same press briefing, Castro said Marcos’ use of confidential funds should not be compared to Duterte’s handling of her own.
The President’s funds were accounted for in line with existing laws, according to Castro, who brought up some of the issues raised against Duterte, including her supposed spending of P125 million in just 11 days, the notice of disallowance on her use of confidential funds, the alleged issuance of questionable receipts and the supposed using of military certifications to justify P15 million in expenses.
Castro also shrugged off Duterte’s statement that investor confidence is gone with or without her impeachment and that she should not be blamed for the country’s supposed weak economic performance.
“That’s her belief. If that is the narrative she wants, we cannot do anything, but our basis should be documents and the things we have achieved,” the Palace press officer said.
“The Vice President will always say negative things about this government and she has proven that she does not intend to help the President in any national issue. That is saddening,” she added.
Pandora’s box
Amid insinuations of Senate foot-dragging on Duterte’s impeachment trial, outgoing Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said the chamber’s motion to return to the House of Representatives the Articles of Impeachment has opened a Pandora’s box of legal questions that now threaten to “bog down” the proceedings and ultimately favor Duterte.
Although described as mere “constructive referral,” Pimentel said the motion to return the articles was unnecessary and a risky move on the part of the 18 senator-judges who voted for it.
“Instead of simplifying the process for easier compliance, it takes a turn thus opening a space for imagining legal issues. All the more, things did not get faster or straight because of a detour that led to nowhere. It can spawn legal cases,” he said in Filipino at a briefing.
“You’re inviting some people to go to court, even if there was no issue and everything was clear,” he said. “What do you mean by ‘return’?’’
He also noted that lawyers and constitutional framers, while largely against the Senate court’s move, may choose not to file cases as doing so would on only bog down the process.
The senator also balked at suggestions that the Senate impeachment court seek guidance from the Supreme Court.
“No, do not wait for the SC to act. The SC is not a consultant,” he said. But he stressed they would abide by whatever is decided by the SC.
“But if there is none, we will stick to the procedure that we believe is right,” he added.
Currently, there are pending petitions before the SC contesting the constitutionality of the fourth impeachment complaint and another questioning whether the current impeachment court can continue to the 20th Congress.
Pimentel also asked commentators and critics not to file cases questioning the Senate motion despite its perceived irregularity, saying it would only delay the impeachment process.
“Yes, there is a basis to raise questions but personally I would advise not to go to the SC anymore,” Pimentel said. “What can that achieve? It might take us back to step one.”
Amid talks of inhibiting senator-judges with clear bias towards the Vice President, Pimentel explained how absences and abstentions among senators could effectively benefit Duterte.
“The logical answer is in the wording of the Constitution – that all the members of the Senate or two thirds should say ‘guilty’ before an impeached officer can be considered convicted,” he said.
Legal team
The Senate impeachment court on Monday officially received the formal entry or appearance of Duterte’s legal team, signaling her camp’s participation in the proceedings even as they reserved the right to raise objections to the trial’s jurisdiction.
Filed by the law firm Fortun Narvasa & Salazar, the document marked “Appearance ad cautelam” states that the lawyers are entering their appearance as counsel “without prejudice to any jurisdictional and/or other objections” that the Vice President may have in the case.
Duterte’s legal team is composed of 16 lawyers, the document showed, and is headlined by the law firm’s founding partners Philip Sigfried Fortun and Gregorio Narvasa II.
Through its newly designated spokesman Antonio Audie Bucoy, the House prosecution panel reminded senator-judges yesterday about their own rules on observing decorum and impartiality as members of an impeachment court. — Neil Jayson Servallos, Delon Porcalla, Jose Rodel Clapano, Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Mark Ernest Villeza
