NUPL urges Senate to uphold accountability in impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte
The NUPL calls on the Filipino people to remain vigilant and engaged throughout this process. Transparency and justice are not gifts handed down by those in power—they must be fought for and demanded.
February 5, 2025
NUPL
The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers is a nationwide voluntary association of human rights lawyers in the Philippines, committed to the defense, protection, and promotion of human rights, especially of the poor and the oppressed.

The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) welcomes the House of Representatives’ decision to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte. This indictment is a vital step toward accountability at the highest levels of government. We now urge the Senate to conduct a thorough and fair trial.

At the core of the impeachment are grave allegations of corruption involving over ₱612.5 million in confidential funds, rapidly depleted with discrepancies pointing to fabricated recipients—an alarming betrayal of public trust, especially amid an economic crisis. Duterte is also accused of issuing death threats against the President, First Lady, and House Speaker, as well as playing a role in extrajudicial killings, including the hundreds of summary executions carried out by the Davao Death Squad when she was still Mayor of Davao City. These charges depict an official who has repeatedly resorted to violence and repression as tools of governance.

The impeachment process is a constitutional safeguard designed to ensure that government officials are held accountable for misconduct. More than a legal proceeding, this trial is a defining moment that will test whether our democratic institutions can deliver justice and break the deeply entrenched culture of impunity. It is an opportunity for the Senate to show that accountability is possible, even when the powerful are on trial.

The NUPL calls on the Filipino people to remain vigilant and engaged throughout this process. Transparency and justice are not gifts handed down by those in power—they must be fought for and demanded.

Reference:
Atty. Josalee S. Deinla
+639174316396

Photo by Kodao Productions

Read more

In the Service of the Filipino People

In the Service of the Filipino People

NUPL Vice President Atty. Angelo Karlo Guillen and Secretary General Atty. Josa Deinla with lawyers from the Kennedy Human Rights Center and Kerry Kennedy at the Capitol in Washington D.C.

Philippine Defeat in UN Security Council Bid Shows Human Rights Record Cannot Be Ignored

Philippine Defeat in UN Security Council Bid Shows Human Rights Record Cannot Be Ignored

The Philippine government finds paths only to new methods of repression and enforces the peace of the grave at home. Human rights monitors, including Karapatan, document a continuing pattern of violence: extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and widespread attacks on rural communities. On April 19, state forces killed 19 people in Toboso, Negros Occidental, including civilians standing in solidarity with farmers asserting their land rights.

On the Denial of the Petition Challenging the Terrorist Designation of Cordillera Peoples Alliance Leaders and the Constitutionality of the Anti-Terrorism Act

On the Denial of the Petition Challenging the Terrorist Designation of Cordillera Peoples Alliance Leaders and the Constitutionality of the Anti-Terrorism Act

The petitioners, all respected advocates for indigenous peoples’ rights and self-determination, sought judicial review of their designation as terrorists by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) in 2023. Their petition constituted the first—and, to our knowledge, remains the only—as-applied constitutional challenge to the ATC’s power to designate individuals and organizations as terrorists under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

Share This