Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian and impeachment court Presiding Officer Sen. Francis Escudero welcomed the prosecution’s decision to drop two witnesses from its presentation under Article IV, saying efforts to streamline the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte would be appreciated.
Article IV covers allegations of grave threats and inciting to sedition stemming from Duterte’s statements against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez.
Their remarks came after private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan informed the impeachment court that the prosecution would no longer present Office of the Vice President Chief of Staff Atty. Zuleika Lopez and House Legislative Security Bureau Executive Director Capt. Belinda Bello.
Gatchalian said the pre-trial submissions of both parties indicated that as many as 102 witnesses could be called—57 by the prosecution and 45 by the defense.
“At the rate we are going – two witnesses per day – we will finish in 17 months. That’s a year-and-a-half or a year and five months to be exact,” Gatchalian said.
“So any chance of shortening the proceedings will be highly appreciated,” he added.
Escudero echoed Gatchalian and thanked the prosecution for dispensing with the testimonies of Lopez and Bello.
“The presiding officer also thanks the counsel for prosecutors,” Escudero said.
The prosecution announced its decision on the fourth day of the trial after the defense completed its two-day cross-examination of National Bureau of Investigation Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc.
Lotoc and NBI Senior Agent John Mark Calilung were the first witnesses presented under Article IV. The impeachment court allotted the prosecution 11 trial days to present its evidence under the article.
Kapunan said the matters Lopez and Bello were expected to corroborate had already been established through the testimonies and evidence presented by the two NBI officials during the first four trial days.
She said the prosecution dropped the witnesses to save time and urged the defense to make a similar effort to shorten the proceedings.
Calilung authenticated the recording of Duterte’s Nov. 23, 2024 online press conference, during which she said she had instructed a person to kill Marcos, the First Lady and Romualdez should she herself be killed.
Duterte said she had spoken to an individual who agreed to carry out her instructions.
Lotoc, who led the NBI team that investigated the statements, testified that the alleged threats were “serious, real and actual” and that the Vice President was capable of carrying them out.
The prosecution is expected to further bolster its evidence under Article IV when it presents NBI Director Melvin Matibag on Monday.