VICE PRESIDENT Sara Duterte clarified her recent use of the term “bloodbath” in reference to her impending impeachment trial, stating that the remark had been widely misunderstood and deliberately misinterpreted.
During an interview, the Vice President explained that her “bloodbath” comment was a metaphorical expression stemming from her perception of the impeachment proceedings as a “political persecution” and a “crucifixion” against her.
“To clarify, I think many misunderstood the word bloodbath, and many didn’t want to understand. They didn’t want to understand, refused to understand what it meant,” she said. “We have always said that the impeachment is a political persecution. It is the administration going after me after I resigned from the Cabinet.”
She continued, drawing a stark analogy, “And if it’s a persecution, it’s some sort of crucifixion against me. And so when there’s a crucifixion, there’s blood. So it’s a bloodbath. My bloodbath. So, I’m just sad that many people refuse to understand the context in wherein I give statements.”
Legal team and preparedness
Asked about her legal team for the impeachment trial, Duterte confirmed that her initial lawyer for disbarment cases related to the issue was her father-in-law, Atty. Lucas Carpio, followed by Atty. Michael Poa. For the Supreme Court cases concerning the Office of the Vice President’s P125 million confidential funds, she stated that the Solicitor General’s Office represents the government.
She added that Atty. Michael Poa is also representing her in a petition questioning the constitutionality of the articles of impeachment.
The vice president assured the public that her defense team is well-prepared, having anticipated the trial since 2023.
“From the defense, the people can expect that they will do their utmost, their best, in protecting the rights, my rights, as an accused in an impeachment trial. And they will do their utmost as well to answer the allegations, the accusations. They have prepared for this since 2023.”
Emotional and mental readiness
When questioned about her emotional and mental preparation, Duterte revealed a sense of detachment.
“Emotionally, I don’t feel anything at all anymore about the impeachment. Because the first time I heard it in November 2023 from the mouth of former Congressman Castro, I was already preparing for it.”
She added that her physical preparation involves ensuring adequate rest and taking doctor-recommended vitamins.
Doubts on a fair trial
However, Duterte expressed skepticism about the possibility of a fair trial, citing a pattern of targeted efforts to gather evidence against her office.
“Of course not,” she responded when asked if a fair trial was possible. “We already saw that they were trying to fish for evidence from the budget hearing. As we heard the former Congresswoman Quimbo say, ‘let’s stick to our plan.’ So, there was already a plan for fishing for evidence from that budget hearing.”
She further alleged that when efforts to secure evidence from the budget hearing failed, an investigation in aid of legislation was pursued, specifically targeting the Office of the Vice President regarding confidential funds, while other departments were not invited.
Finally, she questioned the procedural integrity of the impeachment articles themselves, citing issues with the verification process and the speed at which signatures were purportedly gathered from over 300 congressmen.
“And then when they failed to get evidence from that investigation in aid of legislation kuno, they proceeded to just file the articles of impeachment, from which we can see that there were three articles of impeachment that were filed wherein they did not follow the procedure,” she said.
“And there is a question as well about the verification because how fast do you get signatures of 300 plus congressmen in just a span of a few hours, wherein we questioned if the members of the House of Representatives who signed, read the articles of impeachment,” she further said.
