No request yet for pretrial extension, says Bantug

MANILA, Philippines – Senate Secretary and impeachment court clerk Renato Bantug said Wednesday that he has yet to receive a formal request from the House prosecution panel to extend the pretrial proceedings in the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.

“I have not received a request,” Bantug said in a text message to the Inquirer after the prosecution team disclosed on Tuesday that they had sought additional pretrial days, including Friday and Saturday, to complete the marking of evidence and other requirements.

READ: Duterte impeachment: Prosecution seeks more pre-trial days

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He said holding a pretrial proceedings on Friday, if necessary, would be acceptable.Bantug, however, noted that a weekend should hopefully be “devoted to housekeeping matters.”

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The pretrial conference, which began on June 18, is scheduled to conclude on Thursday. However, both the prosecution and defense panels have acknowledged that the process could take longer because of the large volume of documentary evidence that must be reviewed and marked.

Defense spokesperson Michael Poa previously said the duration of the pretrial conference will depend on the progress of the teams handling the evidence.

Only two of the four impeachment articles left for marking.

READ: Pretrial for Duterte’s impeachment trial reaches 4th day on Wednesday

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These are Articles I and II, which refers to Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds, and accumulation of unexplained wealth, respectively.

So far, the two articles have been tackled for two days, after the third and fourth articles were settled after day one.

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Article III pertains to the vice president’s supposed bribery of Department of Education officials, while Article IV refers to Duterte’s public pronouncement of supposedly hiring a hitman to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez./dp

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