Human rights crusaders and incoming House lawmakers Leila de Lima and Chel Diokno will join the prosecution team in the upcoming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, replacing two prosecutors who lost their re-election bids.

De Lima ran for a congressional seat in the 12 May polls under the Mamayang Liberal (ML) Partylist, while Diokno was under Akbayan. The two are the first nominees of their respective parties.

Akbayan topped the partylist race with 2.8 million votes or 6.71 percent, while ML, at 14th, obtained 541,134 votes or 1.32 percent, based on the partial unofficial count with 97.37 percent of election returns.

Akbayan’s standing is enough to secure one seat in the House, or potentially more in the 20th Congress. Although ML’s vote did not cross the required 2 percent threshold for a seat allocation, its ranking is well within the top 63 groups poised to receive at least one.

Once the votes are made official, De Lima and Diokno will be sworn in as members of the 20th Congress in July, marking their entry as fresh additions to the 11-member House prosecution team.

According to De Lima and Diokno, the invitation to be part of the prosecutors came from no less than House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

“I have accepted. My decision comes from a place of duty and principle. I have always stood for truth, accountability, and the rule of law—across different administrations, regardless of political affiliation. That commitment remains unchanged," De Lima said.

In a separate statement, Diokno said he openly accepts Romualdez’s offer.

“As the principal endorser of the first impeachment complaint and after thorough party deliberations, we extend our full support to this historic process of accountability,” he stated.

Romualdez, whom Duterte accused of orchestrating the House probe into the spending of her multi-million confidential funds that led to the filing of four impeachment complaints against her, is keen that De Lima and Diokno will be a great asset to the prosecution in the upcoming impeachment trial.

Underscoring their “unquestioned legal expertise and deep commitment to justice,” the Speaker expressed confidence that the potential inclusion of De Lima and Diokno in the prosecution would further strengthen the House’s impeachment case against the VP and would add “credibility, balance, and depth to this constitutionally mandated process.”

“They are not just veteran lawyers—they are public servants with a lifelong record of upholding the rule of law and protecting democratic institutions. Their involvement would be a valuable contribution to ensuring that the proceedings are fair, principled, and rooted in the public interest,” Romualdez averred.

“This is not about targeting individuals. This is about fulfilling our constitutional duty with integrity. The House is committed to presenting a case based solely on facts, evidence, and the rule of law,” the House leader asserted.

The House of Representatives impeached Duterte on 5 February, accusing her of graft and corruption, bribery, and betrayal of public trust, among others.

The Senate, which will sit as the impeachment court, is expected to try Duterte on 30 June, or after the 20th Congress takes over and 12 new senators are sworn in.

The House prosecution panel is reportedly 80 percent ready with the evidence to be presented in the trial. Aside from House members, the prosecution panel will be comprised of “veteran lawyers” who volunteered to help in Duterte’s trial.

The Senate will need a two-thirds vote, or at least 16 of the 24 sitting senators, to convict Duterte. If convicted, she will be permanently disqualified from holding any public office, including her alleged ambition to succeed Marcos in the next national polls.