Leila de Lima, the first nominee of the ML Partylist, has agreed to join the House of Representatives’ prosecution panel in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
De Lima confirmed that she received a call from Speaker Martin Romualdez and accepted the invitation. “Got a call from the Speaker just an hour ago. I answered yes to the suggestion/offer to be part of the prosecution panel,” she told reporters.
Her acceptance comes as the House prepares to finalize its 11-member prosecution team, some of whom were not reelected in the recent 2025 elections.
“I’ve always believed that public office comes with the duty to uphold accountability, no matter the personalities involved. This is part of my continuing work for justice and reform. I’m here to serve the truth—nothing more, nothing less,” De Lima said.
According to GMA Network’s unofficial election count as of 5:21 p.m. Wednesday, De Lima’s ML Partylist placed 14th with over 541,000 votes—enough to secure one seat in the incoming Congress.
Speaker Romualdez, in a statement, endorsed the inclusion of De Lima and Akbayan’s first nominee, human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, in the House panel. He praised them for their “unquestioned legal expertise and deep commitment to justice.”
“Their involvement would be a valuable contribution to ensuring that the proceedings are fair, principled, and rooted in the public interest,” Romualdez said, adding that the House seeks to build a credible case based solely on facts and the rule of law.
Diokno’s Akbayan Partylist emerged as the top vote-getter in the 2025 party-list race, earning over 6.71% of the votes and securing three seats in Congress. Alongside Diokno, Perci Cendaña and Dadah Kiram Ismula will also take seats in the House.
