The impeachment case faced by Philippine Vice President Sara has seen a major turnaround.
The Senate of the Philippine Congress approved the prosecutor’s request, dismissing three impeachment charges against Vice President Sara. She now faces only one charge related to unexplained wealth.
According to AFP, the Philippine impeachment court approved the request on Monday, October 12. Last week, the prosecution requested the dismissal of one bribery charge, and on Tuesday, they asked the court to dismiss two other charges, which involve the misuse of funds and threats to kill President Ferdinand Marcos.
Sarah has previously faced four impeachment charges, which means she currently only faces one charge related to failing to properly declare assets of unknown origin from 2022 to 2025. Sarah denies any guilt completely.
The Philippine House of Representatives passed an impeachment resolution against Sarah on May 11. The impeachment case is currently being reviewed by the Senate.
According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, after 38 days of interrogation, Representative Gerville Luistro, the Chief Prosecutor, said that the prosecution had sufficient evidence to prove Sarah possessed wealth of unknown origin. He also noted that handling only one charge instead of four would be more practical, as it could speed up the proceedings and allow the Senate more time to handle legislative procedures.
Sarah’s lead defense attorney, Sheila Sison, criticized this move, saying that the prosecution was wasting resources of the impeachment court, and that it would force the already “unfavorable” defense to abandon the submission of their own evidence.
Xisi said that due process must never be allowed to override the law in order to speed up impeachment proceedings.
Although the charges against her have been significantly reduced, Sarah’s political crisis remains unresolved. If she is found guilty under the charge of “possessing wealth from unknown sources” and must step down from office, she will be permanently barred from holding public positions. This would completely end her dream of running for president in 2028.
After the trial on Tuesday (the 13th), the Senate impeachment court will resume the proceedings in November. At that time, the defense side will submit evidence and call witnesses.
