MANILA, Philippines – Defense counsels poked holes in the allegations of the House of Representatives in their first chance to defend Vice President Sara Duterte during the impeachment trial’s opening on Monday, July 6.

In her opening speech, defense lead counsel Sheila Sison addressed each of the issues thrown at the Vice President.

Among the highlights was Duterte’s defense against the alleged misuse of confidential funds. According to Sison, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. – through the members of his Cabinet – approved the request and the release of the allegedly questionable funds in the first place.

“It was the then-secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Amenah Pangandaman, who issued a memorandum for the President through [then-] executive secretary Lucas Bersamin on October 18, 2022, recommending the approval of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) request for confidential funds,” Sison said in her 16-minute speech.

“That the Office of the President did in fact approve that recommendation of the DBM through a memorandum from the executive secretary dated November 28, 2022, and signed by the former executive secretary Lucas Bersamin by order of the President… Notwithstanding the impending end of the fiscal year, the confidential funds were nonetheless released to the OVP on December 20, 2022, under this documented approval process,” Sison added.

The alleged misuse of confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education (DepEd), amounting to P612.5 million, is the first article of impeachment against Duterte. For the House of Representatives, this constitutes culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and betrayal of public trust.

But although it was Malacañang that approved the confidential funds, Duterte’s offices were the ones that disbursed the money. In 2023, the Commission on Audit (COA) revealed that the OVP’s P125-million confidential funds were spent in only 11 days.

However, during the House committee on justice’s “mini-trial” on Duterte, self-confessed Duterte bagman Ramil Madriaga claimed that the amount was actually spent within 24 hours.

“All those things will be discussed during the course of the trial,” defense spokesperson Michael Poa said when asked about the OVP and DepEd’s role in the funds’ use.

‘Never forget’

In her speech, Sison also used the words “never forget” – a phrase often used to recall the atrocities of the regime of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos. The incumbent president, Marcos Jr., is the son of the late tyrant.

“The present undertaking of this court therefore not only carries the weight of the Constitution but also the imprint of our nation’s history because the Filipino people have shown that they never forget. We as a nation never forget,” the lead counsel said.

“But why is the act of remembering important? What does it matter to our history and to ordinary Filipinos? Because in this trial, the prosecution proposes that we unseat the vice president elected to office by more than 32 million Filipino people,” she added.

Marcos and Duterte originally ran under the “UniTeam” ticket in 2025 and won the presidency and vice presidency, respectively. The unity of the two dynasties, however, started to fall apart in January 2024 after former president Rodrigo Duterte attacked Marcos and called him an alleged drug addict.

In March 2025, the Marcos government facilitated the Duterte patriarch’s International Criminal Court arrest – further widening the rift between the once-powerful allies.

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Sison, in her opening statement, also used as an ammunition the Supreme Court’s (SC) 2025 ruling that found the House’s articles of impeachment unconstitutional. This 2025 ruling killed the proceedings last year and blocked a full-blown trial from happening.

“But perhaps the most enduring reminder of the Supreme Court that we must not forget in the entire course of this trial is that, in the words of the court, the rule of law that does justice is our lodestar. And that justice includes accountability,” the lead counsel said.

“Impeachment is not a purely political proceeding. It is primarily a legal, political, and constitutional mechanism,” she added.

Duterte earlier said she wanted a “bloodbath” in her impeachment, but she never personally appeared in any of her impeachment proceedings. She was present only through her lawyers, like on Monday.

The Vice President also filed another petition with the SC this year questioning her impeachment anew, but she failed to get immediate relief from the High Court. – Rappler.com