The Senate on Thursday formally opened the pre-trial conference for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, with both the prosecution and defense panels in attendance.
Senate Secretary Rey Bantug, who also serves as impeachment clerk of court, together with deputy clerks Marivic Laurel-Garcia and Maria Valentina Cruz, presided over the proceedings, which were closed to the media.
The prosecution panel is headed by Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, joined by Reps. Terry Ridon, Ramon Gutierrez, Ysabel Zamora, Lorenz Defensor, Chel Diokno, Leila de Lima, Keith Flores, Lordan Suan, and Joel Chua, along with private prosecutors Lorna Kapunan, Marforth Fua, Erwin Matib, James Bryan Ibrahim Alih, and Amando Ligutan.
The defense panel was led by lawyer Michael Poa, together with Sheila Sison, Christine Ferrer, Carlo Narvasa, Mark Vinluan, Ralph Bodota, Roberto Batumbakal, Justin Nicol Gular, David Ronell Golla IV, Lindon Miguel L. Miguel, Karol Oroceo, Francesca Flores, and Clarlaine Radoc.
In a chance interview, Poa said the pre-trial was aimed at streamlining the proceedings before trial proper, including the marking of evidence, identification of witnesses, and agreements on stipulated facts.
“This is what we discussed in the pre-trial conference. We agreed on how to speed up the process, and it went well. We would like to thank the prosecution panel as well for the cooperation,” Poa said.
He declined to provide further details, citing rules on confidentiality of proceedings.
“As to the specifics, I cannot share them. As you know, we are not allowed to discuss the case in detail,” he added.
Poa said it is standard practice for both sides to clarify proposed stipulations, including which pieces of evidence will be admitted or denied.
To expedite proceedings, both panels agreed to submit their respective comments on proposed stipulations by Monday.
He said disagreements during pre-trial are normal in court proceedings, but said the discussions were ultimately resolved.
“Those kinds of exchanges are usual in pre-trial. We were able to settle everything and find ways to expedite the proceedings. There was no tension—it was part of the process,” he said.
The prosecution panel declined to take questions from the media following the proceedings.