House prosecutors unfazed by Marcos leaving Sara Duterte impeachment out of SONA 2026

Members of the House prosecution panel said they didn't take offense at President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr., leaving out the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte from his State of the Nation Address this year (SONA 2026).

Mamayang Liberal (ML) party-list Rep. Leila De Lima, a former senator and secretary of justice, said she expected it since the impeachment case remained pending before the Senate sitting as an impeachment court.

“We were expecting that he won’t mention it (impeachment) to show that he is hands off on the impeachment. This is an ongoing process," De Lima said.

"Although he could have said something about, you know, still about the need for accountability, at least a sentence or two, without necessarily pinpointing the impeachment process,” she added.

“I would say it is only right for him not to speak about it because the case is pending before the Senate impeachment court,” De Lima said.

Lanao Del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the President’s call for accountability is not diminished by his decision to avoid discussing the impeachment.

“The President is giving way for the legislature to do its job. The impeachment is no longer an issue for the Executive or for the President to intervene. We have already reached the point where the Senate is acting as a court. So it's a recognition in respect to all fronts of the government," Adiong said.

"Actually I wasn't expecting, and I wasn't hoping that the impeachment trial will be mentioned here,” he added.

Adiong said the non-mention of the impeachment trial in SONA 2026 was "a way of respecting the independence of the legislature."

"And even if he did not mention that specifically, that is already [provided under] the workings of the Constitution. He does not need to mention that because we have already seen it," Adiong said.

"And we are witnessing the process by which the second highest official in the land is being held to account because of her unlawful utterances,” he added.

The Articles of Impeachment approved by the House for Senate action accuse the Vice President of culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, bribery and other high crimes, based on the following acts:

• 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
• 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
• giving monetary gifts or payments to DepEd officials to induce the violation and circumvention of procurement and other related laws.
• contracting for the assassination of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and former Speaker of the House and Leyte Rep. 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.

The Vice President has maintained that the impeachment case against her should be dismissed for lack of evidence, and that her supposed threat to kill President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and his family members are just part of her right to freedom of expression.

The trial will resume on Wednesday, July 29. –NB, GMA News