Two days into the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, members of the House prosecution panel say their side has gained ground—not by tallying procedural skirmishes, but by getting evidence onto the record without interruption.
Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong of Lanao del Sur’s 1st district described the July 7 session as another favorable turn, echoing the momentum his team felt during the trial’s opening. He pointed to a string of rulings that went the prosecution’s way as the reason for his optimism.
“It’s very clear now…but we’re claiming victory because all the motions that were raised by the defense, most of them were overruled,” said Adiong, who serves as the panel’s spokesperson tasked with explaining the proceedings in plain terms.
A ruling to “overrule” a motion or objection means the presiding officer—Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero—declined to side with the party that raised it. A “sustained” ruling means the opposite. With the defense’s objections largely turned aside, Adiong said, the prosecution was able to keep laying out its case against Duterte without being cut off.
Not everyone on the panel measures progress the same way. Rep. Terry Ridon of Bicol Saro Party-list argued that the running score of accepted or rejected objections misses the point entirely.
“Wala kaming tally sheet kung sino ‘yung na-reject yung objection, sino ‘yung na-sustain ‘yung objection, sino ‘yung na-utal. Kasi ang mahalaga naman po rito, ‘yung pagpapalabas mismo ng ebidensya either ng prosecution or nung depensa,” Ridon said.
For him, the real benchmark is whether evidence survives the courtroom and stays admitted. “Ang most important metric in litigation, yun po nga naipasok yung mga ebidensya, naisalang yung ebidensya na hindi na-objection, na hindi po natitigil. So malaking tagumpay po ngayon,” he added.
Adiong framed the stakes in similar terms, casting the outcome as one that reaches beyond the panel itself. “We have already shown to the public what evidence we have. So in that sense, sabi ko nga, we are claiming victory kasi mananalo dito ang taumbayan,” he said.
That confidence, Adiong argued, rests on what the trial is surfacing for ordinary Filipinos to see. “Ultimately, nakita natin ng taumbayan ngayon na habang tumutuloy itong impeachment trial, very clear na talagang lumalabas at lumalakas ‘yung panawagan ng prosecution na ipakita sa taumbayan yung katotohanan,” he said of the day’s proceedings.
