Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense team is projecting confidence ahead of her impeachment trial, even as Catholic clergy publicly rally behind House prosecutors in a rare intersection of faith and high-stakes politics that could reshape the Philippines’ leadership in the run-up to the 2028 elections. The Senate impeachment court has approved a 92-day timetable for the proceedings, which will open on Monday and scrutinize allegations ranging from misuse of funds and unexplained wealth to grave threats against top government officials.

Michael Poa, spokesperson for Duterte’s defense team, said her lawyers are "confident" in securing an acquittal, insisting they have prepared a "solid defense" of the vice president. He acknowledged that the senator-judges, as elected politicians, are likely to be sensitive to public sentiment but stressed that the defense is banking on their oath to political neutrality and evidence-based judgment. Poa also rejected calls to seek the inhibition of Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who has signaled interest in a potential 2028 presidential run if no other candidate with “proven honesty and integrity” emerges to challenge Duterte, saying the defense still extends “the benefit of the doubt to all the senators.”

The impeachment case, initiated in the House of Representatives, centers on accusations that Duterte misused confidential funds, accumulated unexplained wealth, and made threats to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Martin Romualdez assassinated in the event of her own killing. The prosecution has lined up 57 witnesses, while the defense plans to present 45, under a strict one-day examination rule for each witness unless the court grants an extension. The structure underscores how compressed and choreographed the process will be as both sides race to build or dismantle a case under intense public scrutiny.

Outside the courtroom, Catholic leaders are seeking to frame the trial as a moral test of accountability and truth-seeking. In a Mass at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Quezon City, Msgr. Mel David blessed the prosecution panel and urged them to find strength in pursuing the charges dogging the country’s second-highest official, who has already declared her intention to seek the presidency in 2028. "The whole Filipino people is looking up to you," David told lawmakers and private prosecutors, expressing hope that by “presenting the truth,” many senator-judges would be “convinced and vote for the truth.”

Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, the lead public prosecutor, addressed churchgoers and clergy at the same gathering, calling the impeachment a demanding but honorable exercise in constitutional accountability. She said the prosecution team recognizes its “limitations,” “imperfections” and “insufficiencies,” but argued that prayers and public support could “overpower” those shortcomings. Luistro appealed to priests and laypeople to "walk with us" and "be with us until the conclusion of this impeachment trial," and openly asked for prayers for Duterte’s conviction, underscoring how the proceedings have become a focal point for broader debates about governance, integrity and national direction.

As both camps brace for an emotionally charged 92-day process, the trial is set to test not only the legal merits of the charges against the vice president but also the capacity of the country’s political and religious institutions to navigate a polarizing moment. With Duterte positioning herself as a key contender in 2028 and the Senate sitting in judgment under the gaze of an engaged clergy and public, the outcome may reverberate far beyond the Senate floor, influencing political alliances and public trust in the mechanisms meant to hold top officials to account.

Hong Kong’s residential property market is extending a steady recovery, with key price gauges approaching levels last seen nearly three years ago, even as analysts warn momentum is likely to moderate in the coming quarter. The Centaline City Leading Index (CCL), which tracks secondary private home prices, rose for a fourth straight week to 159.94, up 0.57% on the week and 1.58% over the past month, marking its highest reading since around September 2023. The index has gained about 10.98% so far this year, underscoring a strong rebound in the second-hand segment.

Market data suggest the upswing is broad-based across different flat sizes, with larger units showing particular strength recently. Sub-indices for large housing estates and small-to-medium units advanced 0.61% and 0.43% respectively over the week, each climbing for a second consecutive week to near three-year highs. Prices of large units rose 1.25% in the latest week, extending a three-week gain of 3.01% to reach a two-and-a-half-year high. Regionally, Kowloon led with a 1.31% weekly rise to a near three-year high, while Hong Kong Island added 1.12% over the week and 2.34% across two weeks. New Territories East and West slipped 0.38% and 0.24%, ending their recent upward runs.

The official Rating and Valuation Department’s private home price index paints a similar picture of sustained recovery over a longer horizon. The index climbed 1.42% in the latest month to 321.9, its 12th consecutive monthly gain and a 12.36% increase from a year earlier. For the first five months of the year, official prices are up 7.44%. Still, both the CCL and the official gauge remain below their 2021 peaks: the CCL is about 16.41% under its August 2021 record of 191.34, while the government index is roughly 19.14% shy of its September 2021 high of 398.1, highlighting the distance yet to recover from the last cycle’s top.

Smaller units continue to outperform. Prices for A, B and C category flats — those up to 1,076 square feet — advanced 1.47% month on month and 12.57% year on year to 324.2 on the official scale, the highest level in about 32 months. Larger D and E category units of 1,076 square feet or more also rose, but at a slower clip, with their index up 1.17% on the month and 8.99% on the year to a roughly 31‑month high of 284.9. In the secondary market, sentiment is being reinforced by record-setting deals: at Yuet, a redevelopment project in Cheung Sha Wan near the MTR station, a one‑bedroom flat recently changed hands for HK$6.088 million, or HK$17,394 per square foot on a usable basis, the highest price per square foot recorded in the estate’s second-hand market. The seller, who bought in the first launch about two years ago, booked a paper gain of more than HK$870,000, illustrating improving prospects for recent purchasers.

That momentum, however, is colliding with a more uncertain macro backdrop and shifting financial conditions. Since late May, tightened action by mainland regulators against illegal cross-border investment has weighed on Hong Kong equities, with continued stock market weakness and slower first-hand project sales feeding into more protracted bargaining in the secondary segment. Concerns that the US may raise interest rates again have also contributed to a more cautious tone among buyers. Centaline analysts expect the pace of home-price gains to slow from the latter part of the third quarter, as the earlier surge gives way to more selective demand.

Financing dynamics are another source of restraint. According to industry commentary, an easing of tensions in the Middle East has coincided with capital outflows from Hong Kong, pushing interbank rates higher and reducing the scope for further cuts in mortgage costs in the near term. With prices having already rebounded, rental yields have edged lower, prompting some potential investors to reconsider the timing of their purchases. Even so, the leasing market remains firm: the official rental index reached 204.1 in the latest month, up 0.34% and notching its seventh straight advance to a record high, 5.1% above a year earlier and about 1.8% higher over the first five months of the year.

For now, the data point to a housing market that has clearly emerged from its recent trough but is still some distance from its historic highs, with gains increasingly vulnerable to shifts in global interest-rate expectations and equity-market sentiment. Developers face the added challenge of new supply from large-scale projects in coming years, which could divert some demand away from the secondary sector. With both price and rent indices on multi‑month winning streaks, the balance between affordability, financing costs and investment returns is likely to determine how durable Hong Kong’s latest property upswing proves to be.