Pretrial for Duterte's impeachment trial reaches 4th day on Wednesday

MANILA, Philippines — The fourth day of the pretrial conference for Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment commenced on Wednesday.

This is despite both the House prosecution panel and Duterte’s defense team anticipating the pretrial conference to close on its second day.

On Wednesday, both sides will continue the marking of evidence for Article I, referring to Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds, and Article II, which covers the vice president’s supposed unexplained wealth.

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The two camps expressed trying their hardest to expedite the process, but the volume of documents keeps extending the conference schedule.

To help speed up the process, five teams in total will split the marking of evidence among themselves.

Three teams will tackle Article I, which has around 4,000 documents, while two will be in charge of marking the documents for Article II.

Each team contains members of the prosecution, the defense, and the Senate Office of the Secretary, who also serve as the impeachment’s clerk of court.

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The House prosecution panel has already requested the impeachment court to allot Friday and Saturday for the continuation of the pretrial, should they fail to finish by Thursday.

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Defense spokesperson Michael Poa said they are amenable to the schedule, but he hopes there will be no need for an extension.

Poa explained, however, that there is no telling when the pretrial period will end, as it depends on the pace of the marking of evidence. /apl

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