Sara Duterte’s impeachment moves to trial

MANILA, Philippines – After five days, the Senate impeachment court terminated on Thursday, June 25, the pre-trial conference for Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, paving the way for the trial proper that will commence on July 6.

This came after the parties, the House prosecutors and Duterte’s defense team, finished the marking of evidence on the last two articles of impeachment — confidential funds and unexplained wealth — against the Vice President on Thursday afternoon.

Pre-trial conference happens before the actual trial to mark evidence and discuss witnesses and schedules for a smooth trial. At this stage, each party sifts through evidence and have them marked so they can be presented during trial.

For Duterte’s impeachment, both the parties marked thousands of documentary evidence related to the allegations against the Vice President.

“Through the intervention of the impeachment court, nakatapos kaming mag-marka (we were able to finish the marking of evidence) especially with voluminous documents pertaining to the article on unexplained wealth and the article on confidential funds,” said House lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro.

House prosecutor and Manila 3rd District Joel Chua said the marking of evidence also took time because the defense refused to jointly mark the evidence with the prosecution: “Pero pinilit pa rin po nila na mag-marka sila ng sarili nilang dokumento samantalang parehas lang naman ang nilalaman — content nitong sa prosecution, sa defense, at saka doon sa impeachment court.“

(But they insisted on marking their own evidence despite the contents being the same — same for the prosecution, defense, and impeachment court.)

The parties will now wait for the impeachment court’s pre-trial order which will contain the roadmap on how the trial will run in the coming months. Luistro said the trial, that will run every Monday to Wednesday, will start at 2 pm.

Duterte became the first Filipino public official to have been impeached twice by the House of Representatives in May. As the impeachment court, the Senate now has the articles of impeachment — the allegations against Duterte — which will be tackled during the trial.

There are four articles of impeachment approved by the House against Duterte:

(1) questions on confidential funds usage
(2) unexplained wealth
(3) bribery of Department of Education officials
(4) grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family. – Rappler.com