HOUSE Senior Deputy Majority Leader Lorenz Defensor of Iloilo on Wednesday said Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s early declaration of her 2028 presidential bid ultimately “backfired” after she and her legal team repeatedly failed to answer the allegations raised during the impeachment hearings.
Defensor admitted that Duterte’s early presidential bid initially posed a major political challenge to the impeachment proceedings conducted by the House Committee on Justice because of her popularity and strong survey numbers at the time.
“When the Vice President declared that she’s running for president in 2028, that was a big challenge for the Committee on Justice,” Defensor said in an ANC Headstart interview.
“Kasi she’s popular, marami siyang supporters, at siya ang number one sa survey until that time,” he added.
However, Defensor said Duterte’s strategy eventually backfired after she and her lawyers repeatedly skipped the hearings and failed to directly confront the accusations against her.
“That strategy of hers declaring early backfired. Kasi imbes na i-sustain niya ang position niya na dapat hindi siya ma-impeach, eh hindi sila nagpakita sa committee hearings. Hindi nila sinagot ‘yung mga alegasyon,” he said.
According to Defensor, Duterte’s absence from the proceedings reduced the political pressure on lawmakers weighing how to vote.
“It’s weighed many members of Congress na hindi niya sinagot ‘yun. Ibig sabihin, nabawasan ang pressure sa mga congressmen at sa Committee on Justice,” he said.
The Justice panel has already referred to the plenary its committee report finding probable cause to impeach Duterte, along with the corresponding resolution setting forth the Articles of Impeachment, after voting unanimously, 55-0, in favor of its approval.
Defensor said some lawmakers might have considered voting against impeachment or abstaining had Duterte personally addressed the allegations involving confidential funds and bank transactions during the hearings.
“Kung pumunta sana sila sa hearings ng Committee on Justice at doon pinaliwanag, sigurado ako mas nag-isip siguro ang ibang congressmen to maybe vote no or maybe abstain,” Defensor said.
“But since it’s unanimous ibig sabihin malinaw na walang sagot sa ebidensyang nilabas sa Committee on Justice,” he added.
Throughout the proceedings, Duterte and members of her legal team repeatedly skipped the hearings and instead issued statements and explanations through press conferences and media interviews outside the committee.
During the hearings, the committee received what lawmakers described as overwhelming and damning documentary and testimonial evidence against Duterte.
These included allegations involving the misuse of confidential funds, her alleged unexplained wealth and discrepancies in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, bank transactions flagged by the Anti-Money Laundering Council, and the alleged threat against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and then Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez.
