By Nestor Corrales
MANILA, July 7 (Reuters) – Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte struck a defiant tone as she made a brief appearance at the Senate on Tuesday, declaring herself “bloodied but unbowed” shortly before her impeachment trial resumed.
On the second day of the trial — the result of which could determine if she runs for the presidency in 2028 — prosecutors tackled allegations that she threatened the lives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the first lady, and a former House Speaker.
“In this bloodbath and bludgeoning, I will be bloodied but unbowed,” Duterte told reporters before meeting her legal team, wearing a green polo shirt, a colour closely associated with her political brand.
Duterte, daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte — who is now in detention in The Hague facing trial over his deadly “war on drugs” — did not attend the proceedings, letting her counsel represent her instead at the high-stakes Senate trial.
A conviction requires the votes of at least 16 of the Senate’s 24 members. Duterte denies wrongdoing and has described the impeachment as politically motivated.
PROSECUTION PLAYS VIDEO CLIPS
Inside the impeachment court, prosecutor Lorenz Defensor turned to allegations that Duterte threatened the president, arguing that her remarks went beyond ordinary criminal conduct and amounted to a violation of the Constitution.
The prosecution called a National Bureau of Investigation official as its first witness to authenticate video clips showing Duterte making violent remarks about Marcos and other officials.
One clip, from October 2024, showed Duterte saying she wanted to behead Marcos, while another replayed a November 2024 press conference in which she said she had instructed an assassin to kill Marcos, the first lady, and a former House Speaker should anything happen to her.
“I have talked to a person. I said, ‘if I get killed, go kill BBM (Marcos), (First Lady) Liza Araneta and (House Speaker) Martin Romualdez.’ No joke, no joke,” Duterte said in the video. “I said, ‘do not stop until you kill them’.”
Defensor said the alleged threats carried particular weight because they came from the country’s second-highest elected official and constitutional successor to the president.
“What makes these threats especially sinister is that they do not come from an ordinary citizen, but from the vice president herself,” he told senator-judges. “Her words were neither accidental nor taken out of context. They were uttered publicly with the intention to be taken seriously.”
The allegation is among several included in the impeachment complaint against Duterte, which also accuses her of misusing public funds, amassing unexplained wealth, bribery and corruption.
Marcos and Duterte, scions of two of the Philippines’ most powerful political dynasties, won the 2022 election on a joint ticket but their alliance later collapsed into a bitter feud.
The defence has argued that the impeachment seeks to overturn the mandate of a vice president elected by more than 32 million Filipinos.
(Reporting by Nestor Corrales; Editing by Alex Richardson)
