Sara Duterte sees 2027 budget used to ‘reward’ conviction vote

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday raised the specter of the 2027 national budget being used to pressure senator-judges in her impeachment trial and reward lawmakers who voted to impeach her, warning that public funds could become instruments of “political survival of the corrupt.”

She also challenged the House prosecution panel to produce compelling evidence against her, accusing it of failing to substantiate its allegations despite wielding the subpoena powers of the House of Representatives.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Duterte defended her lead counsel, Sheila Sison, whom private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan had called a bully and “bastos” (rude) after the lawyer’s heated objections on Tuesday to the prosecution’s withdrawal of three of the four impeachment articles against the Vice President.

Article continues after this advertisement

READ: Ejercito: Senate ready to correct House budget version if needed

FEATURED STORIES

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

“Lorna Kapunan calling a defense counsel a bully is like calling David the aggressor against Goliath,” Duterte said, describing the remark as a convenient way to vilify someone defending against an “overwhelming display of political power.”

The Vice President accused the prosecution of threatening and intimidating personnel of her office and having them detained, then pursuing impeachment allegations that it failed to substantiate with compelling evidence.

Duterte was apparently referring to the congressional investigations in 2024, when her chief of staff, lawyer Zuleika Lopez, was detained after being cited in contempt and detained by the House committee on good government and public accountability for obstruction of justice, having signed an Aug. 21, 2024, letter instructing the Commission on Audit (COA) to disregard a House subpoena over confidential funds and for giving evasive responses during hearings.

“You wielded the subpoena powers of the House of Representatives, yet failed to produce what was needed to substantiate your accusations,” she said.

Article continues after this advertisement

READ: Watchdogs question transparency in House OK of 2027 budget bill

“You then brought the articles of impeachment to the Senate, seemingly hoping that the impeachment trial would somehow make up for what was missing from the beginning.”

Article continues after this advertisement

“After all that, where is the evidence?” she asked.

Duterte’s remarks came after the Senate impeachment court allowed the prosecution to withdraw Articles 1, 3 and 4, leaving Article 2, which concerns alleged unexplained wealth, nondisclosure of assets and failure to divest business interests, as the sole remaining basis for the trial.

The withdrawn articles covered allegations involving Duterte’s threat to have President Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta Marcos and former Speaker Martin Romualdez killed if she were assassinated, as well as alleged grave threats, inciting to sedition, misuse of confidential funds and bribery.

The prosecution had presented evidence on the Articles 1 and 4 before seeking their withdrawal. Duterte, however, maintained that the panel had failed to establish its accusations with compelling evidence.

Budget as leverage?

Duterte linked the impeachment proceedings to allegations of cash distribution and political maneuvering surrounding the proposed 2027 national budget, questioning whether public funds were being used to influence senator-judges and House members.

“Is the budget being used to serve the Filipino people, or has it become a bargaining chip to pressure senators who will sit as judges and reward those who vote ‘yes’ in the House of Representatives?” she asked.

She did not identify in her statement specific transactions or individuals allegedly involved in the supposed political maneuvering.

“If impeachment and the national budget are being used as instruments of political survival of the corrupt, then it is the people—not the defense counsel—who are being taken for granted,” she said.

Duterte insisted that Sison had no role in the alleged political transactions and was simply doing her job as counsel.

Since 2023, she said, the defense team had devoted countless hours to preparing for the case, sacrificing sleep, family time and peace of mind to study documents and develop its defense.

“The public deserves better than political theater disguised as accountability,” she said.

Duterte also challenged Kapunan and the prosecution to stop what she described as arrogance and name-calling, arguing that a lawyer did not become a bully simply by vigorously challenging accusations against a client.

“And if accountability is truly your battle cry, apply it consistently—even to the President, who is firm that a drug habit is not about accountability,” she said, referring to Mr. Marcos.

She ended her statement with the words: “Evidence, not arrogance. Genuine accountability, not political persecution.”

Call for fairness

Meanwhile, three senator-judges—JV Ejercito, Joel Villanueva and Bong Go—have called for fairness in Duterte’s impeachment trial, saying her defense should still be given an opportunity to respond to allegations withdrawn by the prosecution.

Go, a longtime Duterte ally, said both sides should be allowed to present their cases. “If the other side has already punched, give the other side a chance to fight fairly,” he told reporters.

Villanueva said Duterte deserved to be heard even on the three articles dropped by the prosecution. He described the withdrawal as “quite off,” questioning why the House had spent considerable time preparing the charges before they were suddenly abandoned.

However, he said he respected the prosecution’s strategy and stressed that the impeachment court must ensure equal and fair treatment for both sides.

Ejercito also favored hearing the defense, saying the respondent should be given due process and sufficient time to present her side. He lamented that the trial had consumed three months that the Senate could have spent scrutinizing the proposed national budget. Ejercito said he trusted presiding officer Francis Escudero to ensure a fair and impartial trial.

Palace denies interference

Also on Wednesday, Malacañang denied having any role in the prosecution’s decision to narrow Duterte’s impeachment trial to one article, maintaining that the executive branch would not interfere in the proceedings.

“The executive branch, the President and this administration do not interfere in whatever the prosecution does or in whatever decisions the senator-judges may make in this impeachment trial,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said at a briefing.

“If this is what the prosecutors believe is the right course of action, they are in the best position to know which of their evidence is strongest,” she added.

Castro said Duterte could have addressed the allegations earlier, particularly those involving the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.

“If she had explained these matters earlier, particularly the issues involving confidential funds covered by the complaints that have now been dropped or withdrawn, perhaps the case would not have reached the impeachment trial in the first place,” Castro said.

The Palace official also criticized Duterte’s declaration that she would not resign, following the Vice President’s earlier call for Mr. Marcos to step down.

“If she does not want to resign, that is her decision, and no one will interfere with it. But her call for the President to resign is utter nonsense. She has no right to demand the President’s resignation,” Castro said.

She maintained that Mr. Marcos was working for the welfare of the country and Filipinos and did not enter into secret deals with foreign entities to betray national interests.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

Her remarks appeared to allude to allegations that Chinese state-owned enterprises had remitted at least P319 million to Cale88 Foods Corp., a company linked to Duterte’s husband, Manases Carpio. —With reports from Tina G. Santos and Dexter Cabalza