Philippines Vice President 4 impeachment cases drop 3 items, Duterte’s eldest daughter’s dream of becoming president is still uncertain

Vice President of the Philippines Sara. The impeachment case against Sara Duterte took a major turn on the 13th. The impeachment court formed by the Senate agreed that the prosecutors would withdraw three of the four impeachment charges, including the alleged threat to assassinate the president, and only retained one charge of unknown sources of property to continue the trial.

Reuters and the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported on the 13th that after the House of Representatives prosecutorial team presented evidence for 38 days, the chief prosecutor, Rep. Gerville Luistro, filed with the court on the 13th to withdraw the first, third, and fourth charges, namely alleged misuse of confidential funds, bribery, and serious threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the first lady, and the former Speaker of the House of Representatives. Only the second charge remained that the source of the property was unknown.

Lewis Chu said that the evidence presented by the prosecutor on the charge of unidentified property was "sufficient and convincing" and sufficient to convict Sala; concentrating on one charge would help narrow the scope and speed up the trial, which is a more pragmatic approach and can also free up the Senate to deal with legislative matters.

The President of the Impeachment Chamber, Francis Escudero, agreed to withdraw the three charges, but set a number of conditions, including the charges of misuse of confidential funds and serious threats that have already entered the evidentiary process, and cannot be re-raised during the current term of Congress; the bribery charge can be impeached in a separate case, but cannot be reinstated in the current trial; the court will not vote on the three withdrawn charges.

Sala's defense lawyer criticized the prosecution for wasting the resources of the impeachment court and depriving the defense whose "rights have been violated" the opportunity to present evidence to defend relevant charges. Due process cannot be sacrificed in order to speed up the trial.

According to the court's ruling, the prosecutor must formally present evidence for the remaining charges before October 23, and the defense has 10 days to submit a response after receiving it.

The impeachment court has previously ruled that the two-thirds majority threshold required for conviction is based solely on the number of senators able to participate in the trial. The move would make it easier to meet the vote threshold for conviction. Sara is the eldest daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte. If convicted, Sara may be disqualified from holding public office, including running for president in 2028.