MANILA – Akbayan Party-list representative-elect Atty. Chel Diokno and ML Party-list representative-elect Atty. Leila De Lima have asked why Vice President Sara Duterte wants a "bloodbath" in her upcoming impeachment trial. 

Diokno questioned where the Vice President's remarks are coming from, since the impeachment is a "civilized process."

"Hindi ko alam kung saan nanggagaling yun dahil ang impeachment trial ay isang civilized, legal process. At ang mangyayari don ay malalaman ng buong bansa ang katotohanan," he told reporters on the sidelines of the party-list proclamation ceremony on Monday.

"Kaya nga kami sumusuporta sa impeachment dahil gusto amin unang-una malaman ang katotohanan para pangalawa magkaroon ng pananagutan. At pangatlo, siyempre gusto namin ng hustisya para sa taongbayan," Diokno added.

Diokno said preparations for the impeachment trial will be the same as any court proceeding, focusing on making sure the witness and evidence will be presented well.

De Lima believes Duterte is trying to gain sympathy with the impeachment trial drawing closer.

"Hindi dapat ganuun ang iniisip. Siguro ganun ang ginagawa ni VP Sara para alam mo na, she's trying to court sympathy dahil palapit na nga yung impeachment trial," she said in a separate interview.

"Hindi po ganun ang impeachment proceedings. Sagrado po ang constitutional process of impeachment. Dapat wala itong puwang para sa kaguluhan, para sa chaos, para sa drama or para sa theatrics. Ito ay seryosong usapin na susundin ang due process, susundin ang rule of law," the congresswoman elect explained.

De Lima added, the impeachment trial will follow the principles enshrined in the 1987 Constitution: truth, justice and accountability.

Diokno and De Lima recently accepted the invitation of House Speaker Martin Romualdez to join the House prosecutional panel for the impeachment.  

"We are confident. Hindi sana ako um-oo, hindi sana ako pumayag to be part of the prosecution panel kung sa tingin ko hindi malakas ang kaso," De Lima said.

Based on the House hearings, De Lima believes there is a strong case and evidence to impeach Duterte.  

Both representatives-elect refuted the Vice President's remark that they have been "anti-Duterte since birth."  

"Since birth? Wala pa naman sila sa eksena noong napanganak ako ah. Hindi totoo yun," Diokno said.

"Isyu ang pinaguusapan namin, hindi naman tao. Hindi ko rin nagugustuhan yung nagiging personal ang pulitika. Dahil ang dapat uunahin palagi ang kapakanan ng bawat Pilipino," he added.

De Lima believes the statement of the Vice President is one of her usual antics of "exaggeration."  

"I think that is just an exaggeration. Diba mahilig naman siya sa ganun? Mahilig siya sa exagerrated rhetoric. Paano masasabi since birth?," De Lima said.

"Kung ang pagkaka-perceive sa akin ng mga tao ay anti- Duterte ako ay may basehan yung aking pakikilaban, pagkokontra noon noong panahon noong Duterte administration," she added.

De Lima, a vocal critic of the Duterte administration's war on drugs, was detained for nearly seven years.  

She was released in 2023 after she was cleared in all of her illegal drug cases.