It is a fair question to ask, given that past impeachment trials have shown that most senators will vote along political lines. This will most certainly result in the lawmakers serving as judges ignoring the evidence presented.

Senator Bato dela Rosa stated as much, when he said he is certain that the VP will not be found guilty because all his fellow senators will in the end vote according to their political affiliations.

Thus, all the allies of VP Duterte will vote to acquit her. VP Duterte has the numbers, as a two-thirds majority is needed to convict her. She needs only nine votes to be cleared of charges.

The only question now is how the three independent senators  –  Risa Hontiveros, Bam Aquino, and Kiko Pangilinan – will vote. The trio may yet determine the fate of the vice president.

His denials notwithstanding, President Marcos wants the VP to not only be found guilty, but to also be banned from running for office in the future.

This means she cannot run for president in 2028.

Her followers will naturally raise a howl, as she remains the most viable candidate for president in three years’ time.

Marcos will not want this to happen as he fears a second President Duterte will find ways to punish him for allowing the “kidnapping” of former president Digong Duterte and shipping him off to The Hague to face trial for his alleged crimes against the Filipino people.

What Marcos did to the elder Duterte, the younger Duterte will do to Marcos, and he is deathly afraid of this scenario.

His only way out is to make sure he is succeeded by a friendlier bet to run and win in 2028. Unfortunately for him, there is no one on the horizon to play that role.

Of his allies, Speaker Martin Romualdez is a fair choice, but the president’s first cousin comes across as too bland a candidate. Plain and simply, Romualdez does not excite the voters, besides which all Speakers who ran for president in the past have lost.

Perhaps the  very post itself is anathema to voters, who perceive all Speakers of the House as little more than back-slapping traditional politicians more interested in power than leading a developing country out of Third World status.

Marcos has always said that he has always been against the impeachment of VP Duterte. Of late, he has even said that he would welcome a rapprochement with the Duterte clan.

He may want a return to the harmonious  relations he had in the past with the Dutertes, especially VP Duterte.

This does not seem possible at this time, however.

Next month, Sara Duterte will be fighting for her political life. Her trial before the Senate will take center stage.

Whatever the results – conviction or acquittal –  will not be universally accepted.

The only thing that the trial of VP Duterte will accomplish is to further divide the Filipino people, regardless of the results. And President Bongbong Marcos will have to face all the consequences that follow.

The question is, can he handle it?