Malacañang Palace said they are counting on the conscience of the Senator Judges once the impeachment trial for Vice President Sara Duterte starts.

At any moment, the Senate may receive the Articles of Impeachment after the House of Representatives on Monday impeached the Vice President with 257 representatives voting affirmative, 25 in the negative, and nine abstentions of the House Committee on Justice report.

“At sana kapag ito ay napunta na rin sa Senado ay maging patas ang mga manghuhusga, ang mga Senador natin para ito naman ay sa taumbayan,” said Palace press officer, Undersecretary Claire Castro in a Palace briefing.

She said that House congressman agreed to impeached Duterte after seeing weight of the set of evidence presented during the hearing.

“Nagdesisyon po ang House of Representatives at nakita malamang nila ang mga ebidensiya – sabi nga nila ay mas dumami pa ang sumang-ayon na ma-impeach sa pangalawang pagkakataon ang Bise Presidente at ito marahil ay ayon sa mga nakita  nila na mga documents or mga ebidensiya na maaaring maging dahilan para ma-impeach ang Bise Presidente,” Castro stressed.

She maintained that it was the decision of the Lower House, and the Executive Branch has no plans to intervene.

“Trabaho po ito ng Senado. So, hindi po manghihimasok ang Pangulo. Nasa Senado na po iyan, nasa kamay na po iyan ng Senado. At kung anuman po ang gagawin nila diyan kung ito po ay papabor para sa taumbayan o papabor lang sa iisang tao ay bahala na po ang taumbayan na humusga para sa kanila,” she said.

Impeachment a democratic test—CBCP

Meanwhile, Kidapawan Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo, and convener of the InterReligious Leaders’ Council for National Transformation, said the impeachment case of Vice President Duterte is a democratic test of accountability, rejecting claims it amounts to political persecution.

Bagaforo said constitutional mechanisms exist to ensure powerful officials remain answerable to the public.

“Impeachment is not persecution. It is a constitutional and demographic process designed precisely to ensure that public officials entrusted with immense power remain accountable to the people,” Bagaforo said in a statement.

“Why should anyone fear due process?” he asked, adding that innocence would be strengthened, not undermined, by transparent legal scrutiny.

Bagaforo, who also chairs the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Interreligious Dialogue, said Duterte should view the process as an opportunity to clear her name before a public increasingly distrustful of institutions.

He warned that resistance to accountability could further erode confidence in government, especially in a country long burdened by corruption allegations.

“At a time when citizens increasingly question the integrity of public institutions, the nation’s highest officials… must not exempt themselves from accountability,” he said.

The bishop urged government leaders, civil society, and the public to allow the impeachment process to proceed peacefully and transparently.

“Let evidence be examined. Let truth emerge. Let justice prevail. Accountability is not political harassment. Justice is not destabilization,” the clergy maintained.