FIRING LINE: Time may change the color of justice

FIRING LINE: Time may change the color of justice

By Robert B. Roque Jr | September 15, 2026 

We have reached Week 11 of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, and the Senate Impeachment Court now turns to Article II — the charge of unexplained wealth and false Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).

The court follows a split schedule: half-day hearings through September 30, full-day sessions from October 1 to 15, then a month-long pause for budget deliberations until November 18. The timetable stretches into November — and hopefully not beyond.

I see the wisdom in House Prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno’s move to shorten the proceedings. Invoking Rule 26, the prosecution submitted a request for admission covering 104 bank-record documents, asking the defense to confirm or deny facts already supported by subpoenaed evidence.

Diokno says granting the request could eliminate at least 15 witnesses. That would save time and spare the court weeks of redundant proceedings — time Congress could instead use to prepare the 2027 budget. The spending bill is the backbone of government operations.

Presiding officer and Senator-Judge Chiz Escudero is considering the request and has given the defense 15 days to respond. Defense counsel has signaled openness. Firing Line hopes both sides reach an amicable understanding, allowing the senator-judges to rule without another political battleground.

Why does speed matter? Because this trial is unfolding amid turmoil.

We have seen Senator-Judges Rodante Marcoleta and Jinggoy Estrada detained on plunder charges. Although the impression now is that they are still capable of casting votes from custody, the political climate and dynamics throw extra shade at the independence of their decision-making. 

Another senator-judge, Bato dela Rosa, is avoiding an ICC warrant. Sen. Loren Legarda is sidelined by illness abroad and rumored legal troubles. Sen. Robinhood Padilla remains under Ethics Committee scrutiny.

Outside the impeachment circle, former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, under whose watch impeachment was initiated, now faces a plunder case and hospital detention.

The Vice President has posted bail after an arrest warrant was issued over grave-threat charges involving President Bongbong Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Romualdez.

Impeachment is both a legal and political process. The longer it drags, the more the political weather can change around the senator-judges.

If the Marcos administration becomes more unpopular as corruption scandals surface, could that climate tempt some senator-judges to vote according to the mood of the moment rather than the evidence? Is that what we want?

I stop short of drawing conclusions. But the nation’s interest demands that this constitutional remedy — one that could remove the country’s second-highest official and a prospective 2028 presidential candidate — be resolved justly, fairly and swiftly.

It must never be doctored or engineered. It must rest on facts, evidence and truth — not political color.

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