Jimmy Bondoc praises Camille Villar for seeking respect for colleagues

September 23, 2026

By ABOGADO.COM.PH Staff

Lawyer Jimmy Bondoc said Sen. Camille Villar earned his respect with her appeal to her colleagues to stop attacking fellow senators who cannot attend the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Bondoc said Villar’s “can we stop it” plea was “the most human, most sincere, and most necessary words ever spoken since this started.”

During the trial on Wednesday, an emotional Villar said the detained senators, who are facing plunder cases, were not absent by choice.

She called for respect and said the senators facing charges have not been convicted.

“Lahat naman po ng wala dito, hindi naman po sila napatunayan na may sala. Hindi po sila plunderer. Hindi po sila magnanakaw,” she said.

She made the statement after Sen. Erwin Tulfo said the Senate, on deciding on the denominator for the two-thirds vote to convict, should consider that some members are beyond its coercive power or jurisdiction.

Tulfo noted that when the 1987 Constitution was written, the senators were facing charges of subversion or sedition, not criminal cases like plunder.

Responding to Villar’s manifestation, he said he never mentioned that the detained senators have been convicted.

He also said he was not attacking the detained colleagues and was just stating the present reality that they cannot participate in the impeachment trial.