House prosecutors said the opening week of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial marked the start of their effort to convert the allegations against her into evidence tested before the Senate impeachment court.
Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said the prosecution moved beyond the claims contained in the Articles of Impeachment by presenting its first witness and subjecting his testimony to cross-examination.
“We saw first week as allegations turning into evidence. Every prosecution starts with allegations and must end with proof,” De Lima said during a media forum.
The Senate impeachment court began hearing evidence on Article IV, which concerns Duterte’s Nov. 23, 2024 remarks involving President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
The article alleges that Duterte committed impeachable offenses over statements that she had instructed someone to kill the three officials should she herself be killed.
Duterte has denied the allegations against her. Her lawyers have argued that the remarks were conditional and should be considered in their full context. The prosecution maintains that the statements constitute a serious abuse of public trust warranting her removal from office.
The prosecution presented National Bureau of Investigation Senior Agent John Mark Calilung as its first witness on Article IV. His testimony focused on authenticating video recordings and other digital evidence related to Duterte’s statements.
“The first week was important because the prosecution started converting the allegations as contained in the Articles of Impeachment into evidence which was tested or which was subjected to cross-examination,” De Lima said.
Calilung underwent cross-examination by Duterte’s defense team, which questioned the context, interpretation and evidentiary weight of the recorded remarks.
De Lima stressed that the prosecution’s case would not rest on a single witness.
“So hindi rin po ito nagtatapos sa isang testigo lang. Ang kabuuan po ng ebidensya, ang tunay na pundasyon ng isang kaso. Because every witness has a specific role to play,” she said.
She said succeeding witnesses would be presented to corroborate the recordings, explain the significance of the digital evidence and discuss the findings of the NBI investigation.
The trial formally opened on July 6 amid heightened political tensions. Duterte faces several impeachment allegations, including misuse of public funds, unexplained wealth and threats against the President and other officials. She has denied wrongdoing and described the case as politically motivated.