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Sara Duterte’s Testimony: The Prosecution’s Hail Mary or Constitutional Cannibalism?

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Louis ‘Barok’ Biraogo

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When Your Case Collapses, Call the Accused: Inside the Prosecution’s Desperate Gambit to Make Sara Duterte Their Star Witness

By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — September 8, 2026

THE Senate Impeachment Court has become a theater of the absurd, where the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines (1987 Constitution) is stretched like taffy by prosecutors who suddenly realized their case has the structural integrity of wet cardboard. The latest act? The prosecution’s theatrical announcement that it will abandon its own witnesses and demand that respondent Vice President Sara Duterte take the stand to incriminate herself.

When you find yourself drowning in evidentiary failures, there is no life raft quite like dragging the accused into the water with you.

“The Prosecution’s Star Witness? The Person They’re Trying to Convict.”

Fifteen Witnesses Walk Offstage, Cue the Accused

Let us strip away the legal sophistry. The prosecution waltzed in and casually announced it was discarding fifteen—yes, fifteen—of its remaining witnesses for Article I. This is not a minor procedural adjustment; this is strategic retreat dressed as tactical efficiency. Lorna Kapunan, with the theatrical flair of a stage magician, declared they would reserve the right to call Duterte herself. The implication is clear: we don’t need our witnesses because the accused will testify against herself.

This is not legal strategy. This is legal desperation wearing the mask of confidence.

“No Person” Still Means No Person

The constitutional question is deceptively simple: can the Senate compel the respondent in an impeachment trial to testify against herself? Atty. Sheila Sison invoked Article III, Section 17 of the 1987 Constitution: “No person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.”

Sison’s position is not merely correct; it is so fundamentally correct that the prosecution’s attempt to circumvent it reveals either profound ignorance of constitutional law or cynical willingness to trample constitutional protections in pursuit of political victory. The Constitution does not say “no person except those the House wants to humiliate.” It does not say “no person unless politically inconvenient to the administration.” It says “no person.” Period.

Sui Generis Is Not a Magic Wand

The prosecution’s counterargument—that impeachment is not criminal and therefore broader protections don’t apply—is constitutionally clever but substantively hollow. Yes, impeachment is sui generis. But the Bill of Rights does not vanish merely because the proceeding is unusual. The Supreme Court’s own jurisprudence in Duterte v. House of Representatives (the Duterte impeachment litigation) recognized that constitutional protections, including the right against self-incrimination, remain applicable.

The Corona Precedent the Prosecution Pretends Not to Remember

Here is the delicious irony: the Senate itself settled this question in 2012 during the Corona impeachment. When prosecutors attempted to subpoena Chief Justice Renato Corona to testify against himself, the Senate rejected the effort. The institutional precedent is clear: an impeached official cannot be compelled to be a witness against himself. The prosecution knows this. They simply don’t care. They are not interested in constitutional fidelity; they are interested in political theater.

When the Evidence Goes Missing, Blame the Accused

The timing of this maneuver is suspicious in the extreme. The prosecution abandons fifteen witnesses and then suddenly develops an urgent need for Duterte’s testimony? One cannot help but wonder whether those witnesses were abandoned because their testimony would have been unhelpful, contradictory, or simply insufficient. The prosecution’s sudden interest in Duterte’s testimony suggests they recognize their evidentiary shortcomings and are now attempting an unconstitutional shortcut.

This is the classic prosecutorial shell game: when the evidence is weak, shift the burden to the accused. But in a constitutional system that presumes innocence and protects against self-incrimination, this game is not merely unfair—it is unconstitutional.

The defense’s argument is constitutionally sound and strategically brilliant. Sison is not just protecting her client from compelled testimony; she is preventing the prosecution from manufacturing a conviction through constitutional violation.

The Impossible Choice the Charter Was Written to Forbid

Consider the implications if the Senate were to grant the prosecution’s request. Duterte would face an impossible choice: testify truthfully and potentially incriminate herself, or refuse and risk contempt. This is the very dilemma the Constitution was designed to prevent. The prosecution is demanding that Duterte choose between her constitutional rights and her freedom—a choice no citizen should ever have to make.

Let us not forget the political context. This impeachment is the culmination of a years-long political war between the Marcos and Duterte dynasties. The administration’s fingerprints are all over this prosecution. Every procedural maneuver, every strategic decision, every public statement reeks of political motivation. This is not about accountability; this is about eliminating a political rival.

The prosecution’s narrative—that they merely want transparency and accountability—is laughable given their willingness to abandon their own witnesses. If the evidence is as overwhelming as they claim, why do they need Duterte to testify? The answer is obvious: the evidence is not overwhelming, and they know it. They need Duterte to make their case for them, which is the clearest admission possible that they cannot prove their case independently.

The Constitution does not require the accused to prove her innocence. It requires the prosecution to prove guilt. The prosecution’s attempt to shift this burden is a constitutional betrayal that should alarm every Filipino who values the rule of law.

The Constitutional Sweet Spot the Senate Already Knows

What should the Senate do? Deny any subpoena for compulsory testimony, while permitting voluntary testimony if Duterte chooses. This is the constitutional sweet spot—protecting the right against self-incrimination while allowing the respondent the option to testify if she believes it serves her interests. The Senate should explicitly rule that no adverse inference may be drawn from Duterte’s invocation of her constitutional rights. The right against self-incrimination would be meaningless if exercising it could be used as evidence of guilt.

The prosecution’s behavior has been a master class in constitutional manipulation. They have abandoned their own witnesses, attempted to convert the accused into a prosecution witness, and wrapped it all in rhetoric about transparency and accountability. But beneath the noble language lies a simple truth: they cannot prove their case, and they want to force Duterte to do it for them.

This is not accountability. This is coercion dressed in constitutional costume. The Senate must reject it—not merely for Duterte’s sake, but for the sake of every Filipino who may one day find themselves in the crosshairs of a politically motivated prosecution.

The Charter Is Not Optional Costume Jewelry

The Constitution is not a convenience to be ignored when it becomes inconvenient. It is the fundamental law that protects all citizens, including vice presidents. The Senate must honor that law, even when—especially when—it is politically difficult. Otherwise, this impeachment trial will be remembered not as an exercise in accountability, but as the moment the Philippines abandoned its constitutional principles in pursuit of political victory.

And that would be the greatest crime of all.

Key Citations

A. Legal & Official Sources

B. News Reports

Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo

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