The House prosecution panel has formally abandoned Article III of the Articles of Impeachment, dropping all bribery allegations against Vice President Sara Z. Duterte to adhere to trial timelines and avoid unnecessarily prolonging proceedings.
Public prosecutor and Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores, lead prosecutor for Article III, confirmed during a press conference on Friday that a formal manifestation was filed before the Senate Impeachment Court on Tuesday declaring that the panel will no longer present evidence or call witnesses for the charge.
Article III alleged that Duterte, during her tenure as Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), bribed agency officials with envelope payouts.
“We already filed our manifestation last Tuesday pa that we will be dropping bribery… The team already came to a decision that we will end with Article II,” Flores said.
Flores explained that trying Article III would push the case past the prosecution’s self-imposed schedule, emphasizing that the panel has already established sufficient evidence across the remaining three articles.
“We think we have already presented enough on all the three articles, and to drag it further pa na i-include pa namin ‘yung bribery might be stretching the patience not only of the people, but also of the senator-judges,” Flores added.
With Article III dropped, the impeachment case against the Vice President focuses on three remaining charges: Article I, which covers the alleged misuse of confidential and intelligence funds in the Office of the Vice President and DepEd; Article II, regarding alleged unexplained wealth, non-disclosure in Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), and undeclared bank accounts; and Article IV, involving alleged grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
The House prosecution panel has completed its witness presentations for Articles I and IV and is scheduled to wrap up its presentation of evidence for Article II by mid-October.