MANILA — The defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte has distanced itself from the recent change in Senate leadership following the installation of Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, a known political ally of the Duterte family.

In a report, Vice President’s spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa said the defense team does not want to frame the leadership change as an issue of bias, stressing respect for whoever leads the upper chamber.

“Ayaw nating magsabi ng ganyan ‘no (we don’t want to say that) because if we say that, then we will probably be siguro (probably) painting a picture of bias between one leadership to another,” Poa said in an Unang Balita interview when asked whether the new Senate leadership would be more favorable to the Vice President.

“We respect the Senate. Kung sino man ang liderato (whoever their leader is), we expect fairness. At syempre po ‘no, alam naman natin na ang Senado ay (of course, we know that the Senate is) really 24 independent republics and we have always believed that they will decide based on the evidence presented to them,” he added.

The leadership shift came after Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III was replaced as Senate President on Monday amid developments linked to the House of Representatives’ impeachment proceedings against Duterte.

Sotto was succeeded by Cayetano as head of the upper chamber.

Meanwhile, at the House, lawmakers voted for the second consecutive year to impeach Duterte on allegations including culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, bribery, and other high crimes.

Duterte’s legal team said they are prepared to defend the Vice President before the Senate if it convenes as an impeachment court, emphasizing that the burden of proof lies with the accusers.

“We are aware of the action taken by the plenary and with that vote to transmit the Articles of Impeachment, the burden now rests on the accusers to substantiate their claims in accordance with the Constitution, the law, and rules on evidence,” the defense team said.