Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte has yet to clarify whether she will personally attend the impeachment trial in the Senate. In response to reporters' questions, she even described this impeachment process as a "Sarswela" (a stage play), asking herself if she really needs to be there to "watch the play."
According to reports by the Philippine GMA News Network on September 25, when Sarah was interviewed in Davao City that day, she was asked if she would personally attend her impeachment trial. She responded, "What do you mean? Do I need to go there to watch them perform ‘Sarswela’?"
subsequently, Sarah stated that whether she would attend or not 'depends on the situation', as there has been no formal summons requesting her to be present. She emphasized that impeachment is a legal procedure, and her legal team has already attended the hearing. 'Their presence means my presence and participation in this process.'
"Sarswela" derives from the Spanish tradition of musical comedy "Zarzuela", which later spread to the Philippines. Philippine media in reporting understood this phrase as comparing the impeachment process against her to a "stage play" or political performance. Manila Bulletin on the 26th also reported on the use of the phrase "Sarswela" for an article with the title “Sarah compared the impeachment process to ‘Sarswela’” .
Currently, the House of Representatives prosecution has expressed interest in requesting the impeachment court to summon Sarah herself. Previously, the impeachment court issued a subpoena to her brother, Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, the mayor of Davao City, asking him to testify in court. Sarah stated that she is not aware of whether her brother will attend, and only knows that he plans to consult with the legal department of the Davao City government regarding the subpoena issue.
Meanwhile, there has been controversy regarding the threshold for conviction in Sarah’s impeachment case. The Senate impeachment court overturned its previous ruling that set the conviction threshold at 16 votes, with 13 votes in favor and 1 vote against. Under the new rules, the constitutional “two-thirds” threshold will be calculated based on the number of senators who are legally and factually able to participate in the trial at the final vote. In other words, if only 20 senators meet the criteria, the number of votes required for conviction will be 14, rather than the original 16 votes.
When asked about her opinion on this change, Sarah did not respond directly. She joked that if she were to comment freely, “lawyers might scold me,” so she decided to leave the response to her defense team.
