Prosecution goal: Convict Duterte regardless of threshold interpretation

MANILA, Philippines — The prosecution team’s goal is to build a case with overwhelming evidence that can convict Vice President Sara Duterte, regardless of how the constitutional provision on the threshold is interpreted, lawyer Jay Tolosa said on Monday.

During a press briefing at the Senate, Tolosa — the newest member of the private prosecution team assisting House of Representatives lawmakers — gave this assurance when asked to elaborate on his earlier statement about the defense panel seeking an immediate discussion on the votes needed to convict Duterte.

Tolosa declined to give his opinion on whether there is a need to lower the number of votes needed to convict Duterte from 16 to 15 or 14. Instead, the lawyer said they intend to ensure that there is a “compelling case” that can sustain a conviction, whatever the number may be.

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“What I can say is that the intention of the prosecution is to make sure that we’ll be able to establish a compelling case backed by overwhelming evidence such that regardless of how this two-thirds requirement will be interpreted, we’ll be able to secure it,” Tolosa told reporters on the sidelines of the pre-trial conference.

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Article XI, Section 3(6) of the 1987 Constitution states that a public officer being tried by the impeachment court cannot be convicted “without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate,” which means that 16 out of 24 votes are needed.

However, there are proposals to lower the number now that two senators are outside the chamber’s reach — Senator Jinggoy Estrada, who has been detained on plunder raps, and Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who has evaded public eye amid an arrest order from the International Criminal Court.

Last June 15, lead public prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said that the vote threshold for convicting Duterte in her impeachment trial should be reduced from 16 to 14 if more senators become unable to participate in the trial, as there are possible complaints against several members of the Senate.

On Friday, Luistro said the prosecution team would discuss issues involving the threshold once the pre-trial conference is over.

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According to Luistro, they will tackle the matter, including the possibility of bringing it to the Supreme Court.

READ: Luistro sees lower conviction vote if Senate numbers fall

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Tolosa first mentioned the defense panel’s request to discuss the conviction threshold issue when he defended Luistro against allegations that Duterte’s lawyers had “eaten her alive.”

READ: Schooled by defense panel? Luistro says it’s fake, won’t allow it

Tolosa asked how that could be the case when Luistro was able to counter the defense’s push to discuss the conviction threshold, and the pre-trial conference proceeded with the submission of stipulations and witnesses, as well as the marking of evidence.

READ: Schooled? Luistro shot defense bid to discuss convict vote, says lawyer

“At the start of the pre-trial conference, there was an attempt from the defense to post this issue as something that should be tackled before we could proceed with the pre-trial conference itself,” Tolosa said.

“But as I mentioned a while ago, that was quickly shut down by Cong. Luistro by pointing out that that’s not a matter that could be decided by the clerk of court and it should not be used to delay the pre-trial conference,” he added.

There were also accusations that the prosecution panel was unprepared when it participated in the pre-trial conference.

Luistro disputed this, saying that their decision to push for an expedited pre-trial conference should not be mistaken for unpreparedness.

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She urged the public to be more careful in absorbing information from social media, noting that, as a representative of the people, she will not allow the fight for accountability to be overwhelmed. /mcm