Vice President Sara Duterte expressed strong confidence in her legal defense team amid the ongoing impeachment case against her, saying on Tuesday, April 22, that her lawyers are “more than confident” they will win the case.
In a brief interview with reporters in Cebu, Duterte confirmed that she met with her legal counsel shortly after returning from The Hague, Netherlands, where her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, is currently detained over charges at the International Criminal Court.
“I can’t really say what the lawyers’ preparations are for the impeachment,” Duterte said. “But when I got back from The Hague, we had a meeting because that’s also one of the things I’m handling. And they said that they are more than confident in winning the impeachment case. So that’s all I can say.”
The House of Representatives voted to impeach Duterte on February 5. The articles of impeachment, which consist of seven charges, have been transmitted to the Senate, where a full trial is set to begin on July 30, 2025, after the new senators are sworn in.
Senate President Chiz Escudero previously announced that the trial would be scheduled after the May 2025 midterm elections. The newly elected senators will serve as judges during the proceedings.
According to a February WR Numero survey, public sentiment on the impeachment is mixed: 46.7% of respondents opposed the move, 33.3% supported it, and around 20% remained undecided. The strongest opposition comes from Mindanao — Duterte’s home turf — where 65.6% of residents reject the impeachment.
The charges against Duterte include allegations of plotting to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez — a claim she made during a late-night press briefing last year, stating she had arranged for their deaths if she were ever assassinated.
Other accusations include the alleged misuse of over P254 million in confidential funds, bribing former Department of Education officials, involvement in extrajudicial killings during her tenure as Davao City mayor, unexplained wealth, and inciting sedition and rebellion.
The PDP-Laban party, chaired by her father, has urged voters to support its senatorial candidates to block any potential conviction in the Senate, framing the impeachment as politically motivated.