It’s a move that confused impeachment trial spectators and prompted lead defense lawyer Sheila Sison to fire off a sharp litany of tirades — so why, really, did the prosecution abandon three of the four impeachment articles against Vice President Sara Duterte?
There are official reasons, and then ones that emerge when you look at who stands to benefit.
The official reason, as lead prosecutor Jinky Luistro manifested before the court, in dropping most cases against the Vice President is to speed up the trial amid growing “public impatience,” and respect for the Senate’s other legislative responsibilities — from passing pending bills to working on the 2027 national budget.
In a subsequent press conference, the prosecution tried to sell the move as beneficial to the Vice President.
“If I were the Vice President, I would even thank the prosecution because now, she can focus on one (case),” private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan said, referring to the retained charge on unexplained wealth.
While Senate President Chiz Escudero sided with the prosecution in allowing the withdrawal of three impeachment articles, it is difficult to dismiss Sison’s argument: that her client was being denied the opportunity to present counter-evidence in open court on two of the three dropped articles, after the prosecution had already presented its evidence on them.
“The prosecution cannot be allowed to have the benefit of its accusations without bearing the burden of having those accusations tested,” Sison said, warning of a potential mistrial.
So, if not the Vice President, whom does this move really serve?
1. The prosecution
Of course, the prosecution won’t drop this bombshell, perhaps calculated, move without knowing for certain that there are more pros than cons to this.
Behind closed doors, the prosecution is crunching the numbers too, and there’s growing confidence that they have enough to secure a guilty verdict.
If all senators from the majority vote to remove the Vice President from office, the reduced conviction threshold of 14 votes is met. There is a desire to hit 16 votes to prevent any Supreme Court action by the defense, but that means courting the harder-to-sway senators — Camille Villar, Pia Cayetano, or even the absent Loren Legarda.
With the prosecution abandoning the three impeachment articles, two of which they already exhaustively presented before the court, the defense team gets no chance to provide counter-evidence for the senator-judges to evaluate.
This means that the defense doesn’t have the power to prolong the trial the same way they availed of every objection during the prosecution’s turn, because the cases that the prosecution dropped will no longer be adjudicated by the court.
From the prosecution’s perspective, the faster they get to the vote, the better, especially if they believe they have convinced enough senator-judges to side with them.
2. Senator-judges
Senators have undergone their most grueling work schedule in years due to the trial — attending court proceedings in the morning, and fulfilling their legislative responsibilities in the afternoon and rest of the day.
Even Majority Leader Migz Zubiri quipped that he was tired from the 12-hour duty.
So why prolong the proceedings if they already know how they will vote in the trial?
Had the three cases not been dropped, senators would have set themselves up for an exhausting final two months of 2026. November is known to be a busy month due to budget deliberations in the Senate. The ASEAN Summit in Manila is also expected to disrupt their schedule.
3. Anyone with presidential ambitions in 2028
A conviction not only removes the Vice President from office, but also quashes her 2028 presidential aspirations.
Barring Duterte from the race levels the playing field and removes the clear front-runner.
This is advantageous for senator-judges, many of whom have gunned for, or are gunning for, higher office.
Senator Risa Hontiveros is exploring a 2028 presidential bid. Others have tried but failed to be president or vice president in the past — Ping Lacson, Tito Sotto, Kiko Pangilinan, Escudero who interestingly quickly came up with the ruling that sided with the prosecution’s surprise motion, and even Duterte-allied senators Alan Cayetano and Loren Legarda.
The Tulfo brothers and senators Bam Aquino, Robin Padilla, and Bong Go have also been floated as presidential or vice presidential contenders in the 2028 polls.
Putting the impeachment saga behind in 2026 gives other hopefuls time to reposition, build alliances, and decide where they want to place their bets for 2028. – Rappler.com