AMID HER ongoing Senate impeachment trial, Vice President Sara Duterte has called on government officials to halt “politicking” and focus on maintaining nationwide peace, order, and development.
Speaking on Wednesday, July 8, during the 18th Araw ng Bigaan and the 65th Patronal Fiesta in Barangay Bigaan, Duterte asserted that recent demands for transparency and accountability from critics are driven primarily by personal political agendas.
“I am sending a message to our government officials to stop the politicking and their calls for transparency and accountability for now, because their true intention is simply their own personal political interest,” Duterte told local media.
The Vice President made the statement as her high-profile Senate impeachment trial entered its third day in Manila.
The trial, which formally commenced on July 6, stems from articles transmitted by the House of Representatives alleging betrayal of public trust, graft, corruption, and making grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other top officials.
Instead of personally appearing before the Senate impeachment court, Duterte opted to skip the proceedings, leaving her designated defense panel to handle the case while she traveled to Surigao del Sur for local festivities and a tree-planting activity at the Bigaan National High School.
Duterte’s comments directly hit back at prosecution panels and reform advocates who have continually questioned her use of confidential funds during her tenure as Vice President and concurrent Department of Education secretary.
The Vice President and her legal counsel have repeatedly denied all allegations, dismissing the entire impeachment process as a coordinated campaign designed to derail her political standing ahead of the 2028 presidential elections.
A day prior to her provincial trip, Duterte made a brief appearance at the Senate to confer with her lawyers, telling reporters, “In this bloodbath and bludgeoning, I will be bloodied but unbowed.”
The prosecution panel has since indicated plans to request a subpoena from the Senate impeachment court to compel the Vice President’s personal testimony as the trial progresses.
