Tinio: Duterte camp 'had role' in Senate coup ahead of VP Sara impeach vote

Vice President Sara Duterte and her allies "definitely" had a role in the swift Senate leadership coup that took place while the House of Representatives was voting on the impeachment complaints against her, House Deputy Minority Leader Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers party-list said Wednesday.

Senator Vicente Sotto III's ouster as Senate President came as the House voted on the impeachment complaints against. The result, with 257 House members voting in the affirmative, was more than twice the minimum of 106 votes required to send the impeachment case to the Senate for trial.

Before Sotto was ousted, he made a commitment that the Senate would "forthwith" proceed with the trial once it received the Articles of Impeachment.

“Definitely, may role ang VP dito at ang kampo ng mga Duterte dahil sila ang pangunahing makikinabang dito,” Tinio said in a press conference.

(Definitely, the Vice President and the Duterte camp have a hand in his because they are the principal beneficiaries here.)

“Deklarado naman iyong iba na ang core ng kudeta ay iyong Duterte bloc,” Tinio added.

(There are some who went on record that the core of the coup is the Duterte bloc [in the Senate].)

Tinio cited Duterte's declaration in February that she would run for president in 2028; the PDP's declaration it would not support lawmakers who will vote in favor of the impeachment; and the sudden appearance of Senator Ronald dela Rosa At the Senate, after almost six months in hiding, just in time to take part in the leadership coup as clear indications of Duterte and her allies' efforts to turn things to her favor.

“Mapagtatahi-tahi mo naman eh. Iyong biglang lumantad si Senator Bato, malinaw ang timing nito. Malinaw na may kaugnayan ito sa impeachment,” Tinio added.

(You can stitch it all together. The fact that Senator Bato suddenly showed up, the timing was clear. Clearly, this is connected with the impeachment.)

Newly elected Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano said the leadership change is not related to Duterte's impeachment, and that the Senate will proceed with the impeachment trial forthwith once the House transmits the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate.

The Articles of Impeachment reached the Senate on Wednesday evening, during the tumult of a lockdown over Dela Rosa, who is in the chamber's protective custody after the International Criminal Court confirmed that it had issued a warrant of arrest against him.

The Articles of Impeachment approved by the House and endorsed to the Senate accused Duterte of the following:

a) systematic misuse, misappropriation, and irregular liquidation of confidential funds amounting to P500 million released to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and P112.5 million released to the Department of Education (DepEd) during her tenure as Education Secretary,

b) amassing unexplained wealth manifestly disproportionate to her lawful income and earnings during her incumbency as a public official,

c) failure to fully and truthfully disclose all her and her spouse’s assets, liabilities, and net worth in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs) for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024,

d) failure to divest, and instead, willfully continued, all her business interests during her tenure as vice president for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025,

e) giving monetary gifts or payments to DepEd officials to induce the violation and circumvention of procurement and other related laws, and

f) contracting the assassination of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and then Speaker and Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez by making grave threats and by actively inciting sedition against the Republic.

Items a, e and f constitute Article 1, 3 and 4, while items b, c and d are all subsections of Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment.

Article 11 Section 3.4 of the 1987 Constitution provides that “In case the verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the House, the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment, and trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed.” — BM, GMA News