The prosecution expects Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s defense team to continue raising technical objections when the impeachment pre-trial proceedings resume before the Senate impeachment court.
Prosecution trial spokesperson and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the first day of pre-trial already reflected disagreements over the prosecution’s proposed stipulations of fact and evidence, a development he described as standard in adversarial proceedings.
“Well, una po ‘yung mga stipulation of fact even for portion of that to propose the stipulation of fact na sina-submit ng prosecution so we’re actually challenge by the defense in fact that’s the reason why medyo nagkaroon ng disagreement but it is usual occurrence sa mga pre-trial conference,” he said during a dzBB interview.
The Senate impeachment court’s pre-trial notice directed both parties to appear for proceedings aimed at simplifying issues, identifying stipulations of fact, and organizing the case ahead of trial proper.
Adiong said the defense also questioned the admissibility and relevance of evidence the prosecution intends to present, but stressed that such exchanges are expected in pre-trial proceedings.
“I think the evidence that will be proposed also are being questioned by the defense. But again, these are the usual occurrence in a pre-trial conference,” he said.
He added that the purpose of pre-trial is to streamline the issues to be tackled during the trial proper and to allow the court to manage proceedings more efficiently.
“That’s why para mas mapabuti kasi ang intention ng pre-trial conference is to simplify the discussions that will be out in the trial, medyo nag-delay because of some motions and some disagreements especially coming from the defense panel,” he said.
The prosecution, he said, expects the defense to persist in raising procedural and technical objections as the process moves forward.
“So, I would expect that there will be the defense will be raising technical issues in relation to the evidence that will be presented by the prosecution,” he noted.
When asked whether the exchanges reflected tension between the parties, he said such characterization would be inaccurate, as disagreements are inherent in adversarial proceedings.
“I would not say that because that is actually expected in every pre-trial conference. All lawyers would attest,” he said.
He explained that both sides are already operating from opposing positions even before the trial begins.
“Kasi adversarial na from the beginning ang kanilang position dyan. So we would expect some sort of disagreement of course,” he said.
Adiong added that the proper scope of pre-trial objections is generally limited to admissions or challenges on proposed evidence and stipulations.
“Pero supposedly dapat ang icocontest mo lang is it’s either to admit or to challenge the being presented no,” he pointed out.
The pre-trial conference is expected to continue in the coming days, with further discussions on documentary evidence anticipated before the trial proper begins.
Adiong said the prosecution anticipates additional technical motions before the end of the pre-trial period but remains prepared to respond.
“Pero I’m not sure kasi hindi naman tayo kasama doon during the pre-trial conference but what happened is we assume that and we anticipate that there will be some technical motions that will be raised in the coming days during the pre-trial conference up to June 25,” he said.
“But we anticipate naman and we are ready for that,” he added.