Overview
- The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, approved the prosecution’s request on Tuesday to remove charges of bribery, misuse of confidential funds and a public threat, leaving unexplained wealth as the only article for trial.
- Lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro told the court the evidence shown so far is substantial and that dropping the other counts will cut testimony and speed proceedings, with prosecutors saying 32 witnesses will no longer need to appear.
- Duterte’s lawyers said the withdrawals were unfair because prosecutors had already aired evidence on the dropped charges in public hearings, which they say deprived the defense of a full chance to respond.
- A prior Senate ruling that only senator-judges capable of participating count toward the two-thirds conviction threshold has lowered the effective number of votes needed for a guilty verdict and reshaped the trial’s path.
- The outcome could bar Vice President Sara Duterte from holding office and affect her 2028 presidential plans, and the trial plays out against a bitter political rift with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the separate ICC detention of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.