For Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr., the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte are more than a legal contest; they test whether constitutional processes can withstand political pressure.

At 40, Panelo has built a legal career that stretches from corporate boardrooms to some of the country’s most politically charged cases. 

Founder and managing partner of Panelo Law Office, he now serves as one of Vice President Sara Duterte’s lead legal counsels in matters involving perjury allegations and issues related to her impeachment.

The son of former Presidential Spokesperson and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo, the younger Panelo has carved out his own reputation in the legal profession. 

He became a lawyer in 2011 and almost top the 2010 Philippine Bar Examinations.

A graduate of Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in Development Studies, where he received the Most Outstanding Thesis award, Panelo began his legal education at the Ateneo School of Law before completing his Bachelor of Laws with Honors at the Arellano University School of Law in 2010.

He began his legal career at the Migallos and Luna Law Offices under veteran litigators Barbara Anne C. Migallos and Troy A. Luna. 

In 2016, he divided his time between the law firm, where he served as a senior associate, and Malacañang, where he was a consultant and acting chief of staff to the chief presidential legal counsel.

Two years later, he struck out on his own.

In 2018, Panelo established Panelo Law Office as a one-man practice with just four clients and four active matters. Within a year, fueled largely by client referrals, the firm expanded to eight lawyers handling around 150 matters for 60 clients. 

Today, the firm has grown into a full-service practice serving more than 150 clients, including several of the country’s largest corporations.

His practice centers on complex litigation and dispute resolution, spanning corporate, tax and criminal litigation, as well as corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, securities, labor, taxation, intellectual property and government procurement.

His work has also earned industry recognition. Thomson Reuters’ Asian Legal Business named him a finalist for Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year, Managing Partner of the Year and Young Lawyer of the Year in multiple editions of the Philippine Law Awards.

Yet despite his growing profile, Panelo is careful to define his role in the Vice President’s impeachment case.

“I’m counsel for VP Sara on specific matters, but I’m not part of the impeachment defense team,” he clarified during DAILY TRIBUNE’s Straight Talk, stressing that his observations were based on his legal assessment and the information available to him.

Throughout the interview, the lawyer repeatedly returned to one central idea: that impeachment may be governed by law, but it is rarely insulated from politics.

“I hope that they’re treating it as not only a legal battle but also a political battle,” he said, acknowledging what he believes will ultimately influence the Senate’s decision.