HOUSE prosecutors Terry Ridon and Rep. Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno will jointly lead the presentation of evidence regarding Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged unexplained wealth as part of Article II of the impeachment complaint, Ridon confirmed on Thursday.
During a press briefing, Ridon said he and Diokno would serve as co-leads for the unexplained wealth article and would alternate in presenting evidence and making legal manifestations when the prosecution begins its Article II presentation on Monday, September 14.
“So naghahanda na ang unexplained wealth team para sa pagbubukas ng article na ito,” Ridon said.
The prosecution has requested subpoenas for three initial witnesses: retired Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang; lawyer Karen Batu, whom Ridon identified as officer-in-charge of the Office of the Ombudsman’s records division; and Securities and Exchange Commission Company Registration and Monitoring Department Director Gerardo F. Del Rosario.
Ridon said Cabotaje-Tang is expected to provide context on public accountability, integrity in public office, and legal principles involving undisclosed wealth and prohibited business interests.
Batu is expected to testify on Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), particularly those submitted to the Ombudsman, while Del Rosario will authenticate and identify company records that the prosecution plans to present as evidence.
“We have already submitted our request to subpoena these three personalities for next week. So we will wait for the order para ma-subpoena sila,” Ridon said.
He said the expected order of witnesses would begin with Cabotaje-Tang, followed by Batu and Del Rosario, although the final sequence would depend on the proceedings on the hearing day.
Ridon added that the prosecution may also call representatives from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, bank managers, and personnel from the Philippine National Police firearms division to identify relevant documents. He said the team already has tax records involving Vice President Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, as well as bank records connected to the couple and their companies.
The impeachment court earlier allowed the defense 15 days to respond to the prosecution’s 104 requests for admission involving bank accounts and other records. If admitted, some matters may no longer require additional witnesses, although the defense response period will not delay the presentation of evidence.
Ridon said the prosecution’s timetable already accounts for the possibility that the defense will decline to admit the requested matters.
“Pero the best target that you would want to have would be again to terminate it by the first or second week of October,” he said, referring to the Article II presentation.
“So factored in na po ito whether they will admit to these requests or not.”
Ridon said the team might not call everyone on its witness list if the evidence presented sufficiently established its case. He said the objective was “to be able to prove in the soonest time” what the prosecution must establish under Article II.
The lawmaker also said the team was continuing to mark additional documentary evidence as of September 10 and was preparing its witnesses and exhibits ahead of the scheduled opening presentation on Monday.
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