The House prosecution panel has reassigned lead prosecutors for two of the four articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte as it steps up preparations for the expected proceedings before the Senate impeachment court.
At a press conference on Monday, lead prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro said Manila Rep. Joel Chua will now head the team handling the article on the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds.
Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores will lead the team assigned to the article on alleged bribery.
The assignments for the two other articles remain unchanged. Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo Rep. Lorenz Defensor will continue to lead the article on alleged grave threats, while Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon remains in charge of the article on alleged unexplained wealth.
“As we have shared before, nagkaroon po ng assignment of articles of impeachment. Ito pong four articles are being led by one public prosecutor,” Luistro said.
“For threats, our team leader is SDML Noy Defensor. For confidential fund, it’s now Congressman Joel Chua, because I yielded to all the team leaders. I will not be leading anymore an article of impeachment. For bribery, it is now Congressman Keith Flores and for unexplained wealth, it is Congressman Terry Ridon,” she added.
Luistro said more adjustments may still be made as the prosecution panel finalizes its strategy and presentation of evidence.
“Hangga’t hindi natatapos ang presentation of evidence, please anticipate that there will be changes on the assignment of prosecutors,” she said.
“After all, ito po ay exclusive authority ng prosecution to decide on how we will present our evidence, who to present, what to present, and when to present them,” she added.
Luistro said the panel is now preparing for the pre-trial conference, which is expected to help streamline the presentation of evidence and witnesses during the trial proper.
Under impeachment rules, both sides are expected to submit stipulations of facts, identify witnesses, and mark documentary exhibits during the pre-trial stage.
Luistro said the process is crucial because three of the four articles involve extensive documentary evidence.
“To be specific, kapag sinabi nating pre-trial conference, nagsusubmit tayo ng stipulation of facts, and then we respond whether to admit or to deny the stipulation of the defense team,” she said.
“We also submit the list of the witnesses, and we do the marking also of the exhibits which will be very, very helpful to us considering that three out of four articles have voluminous documents to consider,” she added.
She identified these as the articles involving the alleged misuse of confidential funds, bribery, and unexplained wealth.
While media reports have indicated that the pre-trial conference may be held on June 15 and the trial proper may begin on July 6, Luistro said the prosecution panel has yet to receive official notice from the Senate impeachment court.
“We have no official information, as a matter of fact, whether papayagan ba o hindi itong pre-trial conference na ito,” she said.
“And even the first schedule of the trial, wala pa rin po tayong official notice from the impeachment court,” she added.
Despite this, Luistro expressed confidence that the proceedings would move forward after the Senate formally convened as an impeachment court.
She said the prosecution panel is now conducting workshops, reviewing documentary evidence, and holding mock trials in preparation for the proceedings.
“Right now, full swing ang aming preparation. We are reading a lot of materials, we have workshops, and we do mock trials as well,” Luistro said.
The four articles of impeachment accuse Duterte of alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery during her tenure as Education secretary, and grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.