Public pressure could play a crucial role in holding the senator-judges accountable as the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte unfolds, according to political scientist and University of the Philippines Los Baños professor Lara Gianina Reyes-de Leon.

Speaking during DAILY TRIBUNE’s The Impeachment Rundown, Reyes-De Leon said the public must do more than watch the proceedings, particularly as political affiliations could influence how some senator-judges approach the case.

“What is lacking right now is external pressure that will hold even the senator-judges accountable,” Reyes-de Leon said.

She explained that while senators are expected to perform their duty as members of the impeachment court, public scrutiny can serve as an additional check on their actions and decisions.

A strong reminder

She said an actively engaged public could remind senator-judges of their obligation to remain fair and impartial throughout the proceedings.

“Even the senator-judges will have to think because, aside from the people watching, there are those actively holding them accountable to be fair, to be impartial, as they swore to be as senator-judges,” she said.

Reyes-De Leon acknowledged that some senator-judges may have political affiliations or belong to political blocs that could shape their positions on the impeachment case.

However, she said public pressure could help counterbalance these political considerations by making senators aware that voters will also scrutinize their conduct during the trial.

Beyond viral reels

She noted that social media has become an important space for public reaction to the impeachment proceedings. However, she warned that it can also contribute to disinformation, trolling, and selective presentation of the trial.

For Reyes-De Leon, however, public engagement should go beyond merely reacting to viral clips or to the legal exchanges between the prosecution and the defense.

The public, she said, must pay attention to the evidence and hold those involved in the process accountable.

This becomes particularly important as the impeachment proceedings remain bogged down in legal and procedural discussions, which she said could make it difficult for ordinary Filipinos to follow the case.

The prosecution, she said, needs to present a clearer narrative behind the alleged misuse of confidential funds rather than relying solely on individual documents and technical findings.

“The story is what will awaken the people’s interest in why we are continuing with this impeachment trial and why citizens need to watch it and pay attention,” she said.

She also pointed to the expected testimony of special disbursing officers from the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education as potentially important in building that narrative.

Impeach plus court case

Meanwhile, a criminal case filed against Vice President Duterte has opened a broader constitutional question over whether officials who can be removed only through impeachment may also be prosecuted while still in office, her lawyer said on Friday.

Duterte’s counsel for grave threats, lawyer Paul Lawrence Lim, said the defense asked a Quezon City court to hear oral arguments on the motion to quash the grave threats case, saying its resolution could have implications beyond the Vice President.

“If a sitting Vice President may be indicted and prosecuted, then other incumbent impeachable officers such as the Ombudsman, members of the Constitutional Commissions, Supreme Court justices, and even the President, may also be indicted and prosecuted,” the statement read.

The motion to quash, filed a day earlier, argued that the Quezon City Regional Trial Court lacks jurisdiction to prosecute Duterte while she remains vice president.