THE House panel prosecuting Vice President Sara Z. Duterte has taken significant measures to expedite her Senate impeachment trial, prosecution spokesman Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. said on Tuesday.
Responding to questions raised in a post-trial press briefing on what prosecutors could still do to speed up the impeachment court proceedings, Tolosa cited instances in the past when the prosecution took steps to hasten the trial.
“Instead of us promising to exert efforts to abbreviate the proceedings, I’ll just cite as concrete examples what we’ve done with respect to grave threats and confidential funds,” he said.
He recalled that in Article of Impeachment IV, “we just presented three witnesses out of more than 10.”
“And then now, also, we cut down our witness list from almost 30 to 10 (on Article I). So very substantial, I would say, yung efforts ng prosecution to abbreviate the proceedings,” he said.
“Based on our actions with respect to the two articles of impeachment, we could assure you we’ll also try to do that with respect to the article on unexplained wealth,” Tolosa said.
Article IV charges the vice president with grave threats and inciting to sedition in connection with the assassination threats she made against President Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez.
Article I, on the other hand, accuses Duterte of allegedly misusing a total of P612.5 million in confidential funds released to the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education when she was education secretary.
On Monday, the prosecution will start presenting evidence on the vice president’s alleged unexplained wealth, which is covered by Impeachment Article II.
Ahead of its evidence presentation, the prosecution proposed a 104-point request for admission from Duterte regarding about 1,800 documents submitted by various banks and insurance companies on her supposed bank accounts and insurance policies.
Speaking for the prosecution panel in today’s trial, public prosecutor and Akbayan Rep. Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno said if Duterte confirms her alleged bank accounts, that would greatly speed up her trial, as prosecutors would not have to present at least 15 witnesses on her financial activities.
The defense, through Atty. Michael Wesley Poa, asked for 15 days to study and comment on the prosecution’s request.
Impeachment court Presiding Officer Francis Escudero granted Poa’s request, saying the 15-day period begins today and is non-extendible.
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