The House prosecution panel will begin presenting the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte with Article 4, which centers on her alleged assassination threat against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., according to Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon.
“I think we will just do it on a per article basis. So we will start with threats and then unexplained wealth, confidential funds misuse, and then bribery,” Ridon said in an interview on Wednesday.
Article 4 of the impeachment complaint accuses Duterte of contracting the assassination of President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez through alleged grave threats and incitement to sedition.
The accusation stemmed from Duterte’s controversial remarks during a media briefing on Nov. 23, 2024, where she said she had arranged for someone to kill Marcos, the First Lady, and Romualdez if she herself were killed.
Ridon said prosecutors decided to begin with the fourth article because they believe it carries the most straightforward evidence.
“I think ‘yun po ‘yung pinakasimple ‘yung mga ebidensya. Kasi like what we have previously stated, the evidence will speak for itself,” he said.
[Translation: I think that has the simplest evidence because, as we have previously stated, the evidence will speak for itself.]
Despite this, Ridon stressed that the prosecution panel remains confident in all four Articles of Impeachment filed against Duterte.
“On whichever ground, we have high confidence naman po that talaga makukumbinsi po natin yung mga senator-judges to convict the vice president,” he added.
[Translation: On whichever ground, we are confident that we can convince the senator-judges to convict the vice president.]
Ridon also clarified that senator-judges are expected to vote only after all impeachment articles have been presented before the Senate impeachment court.
“I think the rule is present all and then make a decision by the senator-judges,” he said.
“You only need to secure one conviction on one article to basically remove the vice president from office,” Ridon added.
The House of Representatives impeached Duterte last week on four articles that include alleged misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery involving Department of Education officials, and the alleged assassination threat against top government officials.
