Impeachment prosecutors to start with Sara Duterte's kill threat vs. Marcos

A member of the House prosecution panel in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday said their presentation of the Articles of Impeachment will start with Article 4—her declaration that she had arranged for President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to be assassinated if she is killed.

"I think we will just do it on a per article basis. So we will start with threats and then unexplained wealth, confidential funds misuse, and then bribery," Bicol Saro Representative Terry Ridon said in an interview.

During a media conference on November 23, 2024, Duterte stated that she had contracted someone to kill Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos, and then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she were killed.

On why they are starting with the last article, Ridon said, "I think 'yun po 'yung pinakasimple 'yung mga ebidensya. Kasi like what we have previously stated, the evidence will speak for itself."

(I think it's the one with the simplest evidence.)

But Ridon said the impeachment prosecution panel is confident of their evidence for all four Articles of Impeachment.

"On whichever ground, we have high confidence naman po that talaga makukumbinsi po natin yung mga mga [that we will be able to convince the] senator-judges to convict the vice president," Ridon stated.

The impeachment prosecutor also said the voting of the senator-judges whether to convict or acquit the vice president will be done after the prosecution panel has presented all the Articles of Impeachment.

"I think the rule is present all and then make a decision by the senator-judges... You only need to secure one conviction on one article to basically remove the vice president from office," Ridon said.

The House last week impeached Duterte a second time, on four Articles:

Article 1: 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 chief

Article 2: amassing unexplained wealth manifestly disproportionate to her lawful income and earnings during her incumbency as a public official; failure to fully and truthfully disclose all her and her spouse's assets, liabilities, and net worth in her statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN), including in her SALN for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024; 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

Article 3: giving monetary gifts or payments to DepEd officials to induce the violation and circumvention of procurement and other related laws

Article 4: contracting for the assassination of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and the former Speaker of the House and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, by making grave threats, and by actively inciting sedition against the republic.

— BM, GMA News