Please don't treat your PNP as your enemy
In Manila, the Philippine Senate convened as an impeachment court to try Vice President Sara Duterte on charges that reach into the foundations of public trust — misuse of funds, unexplained wealth, bribery, and threats against the sitting president. The proceedings unfolded against a city placed on high alert, where loyalty to the Duterte name runs deep and the machinery of accountability has long been entangled with political passion. It is a moment when a democracy tests whether its institutions can hold the weight of reckoning, even as the streets themselves wait to respond.
- The Senate formally opened impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte, confronting charges that strike at the core of how power has been wielded at the highest levels of Philippine government.
- The Philippine National Police deployed forces across Metro Manila and Davao City, bracing for demonstrations from Duterte's fiercely loyal base as emotions ran high across the country.
- The trial unfolded in a Senate already electrified by the sudden reappearance of Senator Ronald dela Rosa, a Duterte ally facing an ICC arrest warrant for crimes against humanity tied to the drug war — his hasty departure after a shooting incident deepened the atmosphere of crisis.
- PNP chief Nartatez walked a careful line, urging supporters to rally peacefully while reminding the public that police presence was meant to protect order, not silence dissent.
- The nation watches a fractured political landscape strain further, uncertain whether its institutions can absorb the weight of simultaneous trials — one in the Senate chamber, another before the international community.
Manila braced itself on Monday as the Philippine Senate convened as an impeachment court to try Vice President Sara Duterte. The charges were serious: misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery within the Department of Education, and threats made against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family. The Senate had received the articles of impeachment days earlier and set May 18 as the date to begin in earnest.
The Philippine National Police placed Metro Manila and regional units on high alert, anticipating demonstrations both in the capital and in Davao City, Duterte's stronghold in Mindanao. PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. acknowledged the charged atmosphere plainly: "We expect high emotions from the supporters," he said, urging the public not to treat the police as adversaries but to exercise their right to rally peacefully.
The trial arrived amid a broader storm. Senator Ronald dela Rosa, a longtime Duterte ally and former police chief, had spent six months away from public view before reappearing at the Senate last week — only to depart hastily after a shooting incident. The International Criminal Court had issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of crimes against humanity connected to the Duterte-era drug war that killed thousands. His sudden return had turned the Senate into a place where multiple crises were converging at once.
What remained unresolved was whether the streets would hold as the proceedings unfolded — whether a country still deeply divided by the Duterte years could witness its former leader's daughter face formal accountability without fracturing further.
Manila woke Monday morning to a city braced for upheaval. The Philippine National Police had positioned officers across the capital and key regional posts, their radios crackling with the kind of alert that comes when a nation's second-highest office is about to be tried in public. The Senate was convening as an impeachment court that day to hear charges against Vice President Sara Duterte—a proceeding that would test not just the legal system but the streets themselves.
The accusations were substantial. Duterte stood charged with misusing confidential funds, accumulating wealth that remained unexplained, bribing officials in the Department of Education, and making threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family. These were not procedural complaints. They struck at the heart of how power had been exercised and what accountability might look like in the Philippines. The Senate had received the articles of impeachment nearly a week earlier and set this Monday date to begin the trial in earnest.
PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. understood what was coming. "We expect high emotions from the supporters," he said in a statement released ahead of the proceedings, "and this is the part when police presence is needed to maintain peace and order." The force had placed Metro Manila and regional units on heightened alert, anticipating demonstrations in the capital and in Davao City, Duterte's political stronghold in Mindanao. The police chief was not being alarmist. He was reading the temperature of a country where the Duterte family retained fierce loyalty among millions of voters and where the machinery of justice had become inseparable from political theater.
But the trial was not happening in a vacuum. Just days before, Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa had resurfaced after six months away from public view. Dela Rosa, a longtime ally of the Duterte family and a former police chief himself, had been absent from the chamber for half a year. Then, last week, he appeared at the Senate premises—and shortly after, a shooting incident erupted. Dela Rosa left the building hastily. The International Criminal Court had issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of crimes against humanity stemming from his role in former President Rodrigo Duterte's brutal war on drugs, a campaign that had killed thousands. The global tribunal wanted him. Philippine authorities were moving to apprehend him. His sudden appearance and rapid departure had electrified the Senate, turning it into a place where multiple crises were colliding at once.
Nartatez appealed to the public to understand the police role in what was coming. "We fully understand the sentiments of everybody on this matter," he said, "but please don't treat your PNP as your enemy." He urged those planning to rally to do so peacefully and in an orderly fashion. It was a careful statement—acknowledging the legitimacy of public feeling while drawing a line around what the state would tolerate. The police were not there to suppress dissent. They were there to prevent the moment when emotion became violence, when a political trial became a street confrontation.
Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano had confirmed the schedule. Monday, May 18, the chamber would sit as an impeachment court. The trial would begin. What remained uncertain was whether the streets would hold, whether the police presence would be enough, and whether a nation already fractured by the Duterte years could watch its former leader's daughter face justice without tearing further apart.
Citas Notables
We expect high emotions from the supporters and this is the part when police presence is needed to maintain peace and order— PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr.
We fully understand the sentiments of everybody on this matter, but please don't treat your PNP as your enemy— PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr.
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does the police chief feel compelled to tell people not to treat them as enemies?
Because in the Philippines, the police are not always seen as neutral. Under Duterte, they were the instrument of the drug war. Now they're being asked to protect a trial of Duterte's daughter. People on both sides are suspicious.
So the shooting incident with dela Rosa—that's not just a security breach?
It's a signal. Dela Rosa is wanted by the ICC. He shows up at the Senate, then vanishes. It suggests the trial is happening in a place where the old power structures are still fighting back, still moving in the shadows.
What does Davao City represent in this story?
It's Duterte country. Sara is from there. Her supporters are concentrated there. If protests happen, they'll happen in both places—the capital where power sits, and the city where her base lives.
Is the trial itself the real story, or is it the security situation?
They're the same story. You can't separate the legal proceeding from the political temperature. The trial only matters if it can happen without the streets exploding.
What does Nartatez's appeal suggest about his confidence?
He's not confident at all. He's asking for restraint because he knows emotions are high and his force is stretched thin. It's a plea, not a statement of control.