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SENATE TRIAL NEXT
A dramatic day in Philippine politics as three major developments unfold: the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, Senator Bato dela Rosa’s explosive Senate return amid arrest claims, and a sudden change in Senate leadership.
What do these mean for the country’s political direction moving forward?
Join Beyond The Headlines as we break down the biggest stories shaking Congress — all in one broadcast.
A dramatic day in Philippine politics as three major developments unfold: the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, Senator Bato dela Rosa’s explosive Senate return amid arrest claims, and a sudden change in Senate leadership.
What do these mean for the country’s political direction moving forward?
Join Beyond The Headlines as we break down the biggest stories shaking Congress — all in one broadcast.
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NewsTranscript
02:10The development comes months after former President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by Philippine authorities in March 2025 and brought to
02:23the ICC in The Hague.
02:25ICC judges later ruled that Duterte must stand trial after confirming murder charges against him as crimes against humanity, paving
02:37the way for formal proceedings.
02:39ICC prosecutors also identified De La Rosa as a co-conspirator in the case.
02:47Shortly after arriving at the Senate, De La Rosa claimed that members of the National Bureau of Investigation, or NBI,
02:56attempted to chase, block, or intercept him before he could enter the Senate complex.
03:02Former Senator Antonio Trillanes was also at the Senate yesterday afternoon and claimed that the NBI already possessed a copy
03:11of the ICC arrest warrant against De La Rosa.
03:15The Department of Justice, however, later said it had not seen or received any alleged warrant.
03:23Later in the evening, CCTV footage circulated online showing De La Rosa running away from Philippine agents and stumbling on
03:32a staircase before eventually reaching the safety of his office inside the Senate building.
03:38The Senate later cited in contempt the NBI agents allegedly involved in the incident and ordered that the personnel be
03:47placed under Senate custody.
03:50The situation intensified further after the ICC itself confirmed that it had indeed issued a warrant arrest against De La
04:02Rosa for crimes against humanity related to the Duterte administration's war on drugs.
04:08According to the ICC, the arrest warrant was issued confidentially under seal by pretrial chamber on November 6, 2025, and
04:18the court is now in the process of formally unsealing the warrant.
04:22As tensions escalated throughout the day, Senator Rodante Marcoleta moved for De La Rosa to be placed under the protective
04:32custody of the Senate until he is able to exhaust all available legal remedies.
04:39By the evening, the Senate had effectively become a temporary place of protection for De La Rosa while legal, constitutional,
04:48and political uncertainties continued to unfold.
04:51The developments now place the country at the center of a highly sensitive political and institutional moment involving ICC jurisdiction,
05:02Senate authority, executive cooperation, and then continuing fallout from the Duterte administration's anti-drug campaign.
05:12The timing also carries broader political implications as the country closely watches the impeachment proceedings involving Vice President Sara Duterte,
05:23Senate realignments, and the increasing visible consolidation of political alliances ahead of future national elections.
05:34So, a lot of us were surprised when Senator De La Rosa showed up at the Senate complex yesterday after
05:43six months of being absent.
05:46And incidentally, this was also the day that number one, there was a change in Senate presidency, and then number
05:56two, that's also the day in which the House of Representatives voted to impeach Sara Duterte, thus elevating the articles
06:05of impeachment to the Senate.
06:07And the other thing that we can also see from the Senate, it also underscored how polarized the country have
06:17become.
06:18Because if we look at the same scene in which De La Rosa was being chased by agents and he
06:25stumbled on a staircase, there were two polarizing interpretations.
06:29For the Duterte supporters or the Duterte supporters, they looked at it as a political persecution.
06:38But for the critics of De La Rosa and the critics of the Duterte administration, they also saw the situation
06:45as a moving forward action towards accountability.
06:50So, that underscored how Filipinos this time can see a particular scene and then interprets it according to the lens,
07:00their own lens, whether they are Duterte or De La Rosa supporters or whether they are critics of Duterte and
07:08De La Rosa.
07:10Now, there are also questions that are yet to be answered.
07:14The first one is, did the NBI really had a valid warrant?
07:20And if they had a valid warrant, was it really coordinated with the Senate?
07:27And that's the chase.
07:29So, was that a warranted chase or not?
07:32And then, the other question also that people would often say is it's around the tension between the international accountability
07:43and national sovereignty.
07:46Because this is another polarizing sentiment.
07:50Because for supporters of the ICC process, they argue that De La Rosa and former President Duterte were charged with
08:01crimes against humanity.
08:03And these are not considered just domestic matters, but because it also concerns the international community.
08:13On the other side, the critics would also say that the Philippines is a sovereign nation with functioning courts and
08:23institutions.
08:24So, therefore, foreign tribunals such as the ICC should not interfere in matters involving Philippine officials and Philippine law enforcement
08:35operations.
08:36So, again, same situation.
08:38It's being looked at two different lands, whether it's a supporter of Duterte and De La Rosa or whether it's
08:46a critic of Duterte and De La Rosa.
08:49So, this particular development is now forcing the country into an even deeper conversation about relationships of our sovereignty and
09:03then the international law and the limits of state power.
09:09So, kamo din na sa akong viewers, please feel free also to share your thoughts.
09:14And because these are interesting times also that merit our attention and also our discernment.
09:24And speaking of interesting times, there's just so many things that happened yesterday.
09:29We're going to move to our second story.
09:32And that is, Cayetano is the new Senate President replacing Soto.
09:39So, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano yesterday declared that they have secured 13 votes to change the leadership of
09:50Senate President Vicente Tito Soto.
09:53So, 13 votes.
09:55So, kung wala si De La Rosa dito, it would have been 12 and then tie on tato siya.
10:00So, it would appear that De La Rosa was really the added one vote to make it a majority.
10:09So, Cayetano added that Senator Ronaldo Bato De La Rosa, who has been absent since November, is in the Senate.
10:17So, that was when he told the body that he is there.
10:21So, voting 13-10, senators voted for a change of leadership ahead of the possible transmittal of the articles of
10:31impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte.
10:35And as we know, the House really voted to impeach her and is now elevating it for a trial at
10:42the Senate.
10:43So, Cayetano was then nominated by Senator Aimee Marcos.
10:47Following no objections from other senators, Senator Joel Villanueva moved to close the nomination.
10:56Supporting Cayetano's nominations were the following senators.
11:00Pia Cayetano, who happens to be his sister.
11:04Ronaldo Bato De La Rosa, who just showed up also after six months of being absent.
11:10Cheese Escudero, Jingoy Estrada, Bongo, Lauren Legarda, Rodante Marcoleta, Aimee Marcos, Robin Fadilla, Joel Villanueva, Mark Villar, Camille Villar, and
11:27Vicente Soto.
11:29So, Tito Soto voted for him.
11:30Meanwhile, the senators who voted for Soto to retain the Senate presidency were Bam Aquino, Sherwin Gatchalian, Risa Ontiveros, Panfilo
11:40Lacson, Lito Lapid, Kiko Pangilinan, Irwin Tulfo, Rafi Tulfo, and Alan Peter Cayetano.
11:48And you might be wondering why they were not voting themselves as Senate president and they were voting each other.
11:56It's because, by tradition, candidates do not normally vote for themselves.
12:01And Senators J.B. Ejercito and Juan Miguel Zubiri abstained.
12:06Sen. Loren Legarda was also installed as Senate president pro tempore.
12:13It is the second highest ranking official of the Senate of the Philippines.
12:19During the absence of the president of the Senate, the president pro tempore presides over the Senate.
12:26So, interesting times.
12:28And by coincidence, the change in leadership also happened at a time when De La Rosa surfaced after six months
12:39of absence.
12:40So, among the questions here is, was this a setup?
12:44Meaning, the 12 other senators who voted for the change in presidency and then who nominated Senator Peter Cayetano were
13:00already in coordination with Bato De La Rosa for him to show up to provide the 13th vote that they
13:10need.
13:10So, was this really a setup?
13:13And if it is, it's widely guarded because there was no leakage whatsoever, no?
13:20Everybody was surprised when he showed up at the Senate yesterday, no?
13:26Another thing also, what makes this development significant, it's because this was the day in which the House of Representatives
13:35was supposed to vote.
13:37And as we know, towards the end of the day, they really voted for the vice president to be impeached,
13:45no?
13:45Thus, elevating the articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial.
13:51So, the other question here was, was the change in Senate leadership also has a direct impact once the articles
14:03of impeachment or once the vice president is going to be tried at the Senate, no?
14:10So, the numbers they're telling, no?
14:13Because Cayetano secured 13 votes, no?
14:17While Soto had 9, no?
14:19So, showing that there is now a new majority coalition, no?
14:25Because there were four senators who were part of then the majority, moving to the minority, making the new, the
14:33minority, the new majority.
14:35And these are Senators Lauren Legarda, Pia Cayetano, Mark Villar, and Camille Villar, no?
14:44The other thing also is, incidentally, this is also the same change that eventually places De La Rosa on a
14:58more secure position, no?
14:59And for him not to be arrested just yet, no?
15:06And I don't know if there are now developments this morning, but the last information that I have is,
15:12De La Rosa is inside the Senate building and they're just looking at the technicality.
15:18So, as of this time, the same composition also, the new majority also voted for him to have his protection.
15:27So, the other question also that we have was when they convinced him, if ever they did, to be back
15:34in the Senate to provide the 13th vote,
15:37was his protection also part of the assurance or the agreement for him to show up?
15:46The other thing also, it's worthy to note that the new Senate President, Alan Peter Cayetano, is associated as an
15:57ally of then President Rodrigo Duterte, no?
16:04And he is now in one of the most powerful positions in the government, considering, again, that the articles of
16:12impeachment have already been elevated to the Senate and they will try it.
16:16And he happens to be in the most powerful position in the Senate, no?
16:22The other thing also, and we've mentioned this already, this is a good case study also for us to observe
16:32how the proceedings will move forward, no?
16:35Because, as we already know several times, as we've already heard in the show several times, while the impeachment is
16:42a constitutional process, but it is still largely a political one.
16:49And as we speak, the Iglesia de Cristo, which is a voting bloc of about 1.3 million to 2
16:57million voting age members, does not support the impeachment because they think that this is a destruction from our current
17:09priorities, no?
17:11The other thing also is, if we look at the most recent Pulse Asia survey, the Vice President posted around
17:2355% approval compared to the President's 36%.
17:30And in terms of trust rating, the Vice President still enjoys 54% trust rating, while the President has 35
17:40% trust rating.
17:43Although I'm curious to see the survey, whether this really changed, no?
17:49After the second hearing at the Justice Committee of the House, when they summoned AMLAC, no?
17:59And also documents, financial documents of the Vice President and compared it with her Salen.
18:06So I wonder if that will have an impact in terms of her approval rating and her trust rating.
18:13But as we speak, the Vice President enjoys a high approval and trust rating, no?
18:20Based on the recent survey.
18:23The other thing also, we mentioned this yesterday, Visayas and Mindanao are the areas that are largely pro-Duterte, no?
18:34At least as far as this survey is concerned.
18:37And as we know, the difference between the House of Representatives, the congressmen were elected by their constituents, but the
18:45senators are elected nationally.
18:48So the votes of Visayas and Mindanao plus the Iglesia Ni Cristo, these are important votes also for them.
18:58So let's see how the situation will continue to transpire, no?
19:05Because the articles of impeachment have already been elevated to the Senate, which leads me to the third and final
19:13story for today.
19:16The House of Representatives in the Philippines voted overwhelmingly to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte.
19:25The House, which is dominated by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s allies, voted 257 in favor, 25 against, with 9 abstentions,
19:42no?
19:429 who abstained.
19:44The two impeachment complaints against the Vice President, which will now be elevated to the Senate for a trial, mark
19:52an initial setback to her plan to seek the presidency in 2028.
19:59The Vice President announced her intention to run for president in February, much earlier than expected.
20:07However, if she will be convicted at the Senate, she will be disqualified from holding public office.
20:17But unlike in the House, a conviction in the Senate is uncertain if a trial does start and run its
20:26course.
20:27In Philippine House members, they are elected by their districts, as I've mentioned earlier, and so they are first.
20:36The country's 24 senators, as mentioned earlier, are elected on national level, and the Senate is a traditional springboard for
20:46those hoping to run for president or vice president in the future.
20:51Shortly before the impeachment vote yesterday in the House, Senate President Vicente Soto, who had vowed to immediately put the
21:01vice president to trial, was ousted by 13 of 24 senators.
21:07The vice president has generally denied any wrongdoing without answering the criminal allegations against her in details.
21:18Her lawyers said while questions of constitutional significance remain pending before the Supreme Court, they are ready to defend her
21:27in trial.
21:28Last year, she was also impeached by the House, but survived by successfully petitioning the Supreme Court to declare the
21:37impeachment bid unconstitutional on technicality.
21:42So, as mentioned yesterday, this is the first time in Philippine history that a vice president was impeached twice by
21:55the House of Representatives.
21:58And I think this is already the final collapse of the once powerful Marcos Duterte Uniteam alliance.
22:08If we recall, if we recall, in 2025, when the vice president was first impeached, that was February of last
22:15year, there were 215 lawmakers who endorsed the impeachment.
22:21And this time, there are 257, so more likely compared to last year, who supported the impeachment complaint.
22:31So, it's an interesting piece, is this more of the House of Representatives alignment to the incumbent president because of
22:42the factors that I stated earlier?
22:44Or is this an impact to the hearing that was conducted by the Committee on Justice, particularly the second one,
22:55which is the financial records of the vice president?
23:00Is this an indicator of its impact?
23:03So, that's an important factor for us to observe.
23:08Now, as far as the 14 representatives,
23:12Edsel Gallios, Duke Frasco, Daphne Lagoon, Patricia Calderon, Ahong Chan, Lollipop, Uwano Dizon, and Edorama, we do not know whether
23:27they voted yes or no.
23:30What's definite are the four, who verbalized their vote, which is a no for the impeachment complaint.
23:38What's interesting also, and I hope that we would see the record, because as mentioned yesterday, the vice president's brother,
23:49Baste Duterte, is the national president of PDP Laban.
23:54So, I'm also curious how members of the House, who are part of PDP Laban, have actually voted.
24:03Because in my opinion, that's also a telling information, whether the Duterte family still has a hold, or whether they
24:13still have a clout.
24:14Because come to think of it, he's the national president, and he obviously is against the impeachment, and he verbalized
24:21that to PDP Laban supporters.
24:23So, if they voted against his wishes, that can be an interesting piece of information that would tell us whether
24:31the influence of the Duterte family is still there.
24:36So, now, it's been already elevated to the Senate, and in the coming days, we will be seeing, in my
24:45opinion, an even broader political struggle.
24:49So, this one, it's still polarizing.
24:54At one point, for the supporters of the vice president, they think that this is a persecution, that she's being
25:04targeted among the many.
25:06But for those who are in favor of the impeachment, they also think that this is already a moving forward
25:13action towards holding a public official accountable for any grounds of corruption.
25:21So, and the details of the financial status of the vice president will be uncovered in greater detail during the
25:33trial.
25:34And as I mentioned earlier, her lawyers actually said that they are prepared to defend her on trial.
25:41So, given the three major stories, and we do not know what will happen this afternoon and tomorrow, but given
25:48the three major stories that happened yesterday,
25:52we would also encourage our viewers to continue to monitor the news and to be more discerning.
26:01Because, as we highlighted earlier, we have come at a point in which Filipinos will look at the same situation
26:12from a different lens.
26:15And so, if we don't watch out, if we are not mindful about the things that we read, the content
26:23that we post online,
26:25we might be creating more division rather than a moving forward position for the Philippines.
26:36Because at the end of the day, regardless of our political differences, this is still the Philippines.
26:43And first and foremost, we are Filipinos.
26:48So, stay tuned for more developments at Sunstar page, at the Sunstar page, and also here at Beyond the Headlines.
26:54So, from the ICC warrant arrest against Senator Ronaldo Bato de la Rosa, to the sudden leadership change in the
27:03Senate, to the impeachment of the Vice President,
27:07the country is now entering a period where every political move may carry consequences far beyond the headlines of the
27:16day.
27:17What happens next will not only test institutions and political leaders.
27:23It will also test the public's ability to remain discerning, informed, and grounded amid rapidly intensifying political tension.
27:36With the plot twists that are actually happening one after the other, personally, I wonder what this teleseries season finale
27:45will be.
27:47For now, this has been Beyond the Headlines. I'm DJ Moises. Have a good afternoon.
28:24Oh
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