Day 5 of Sara Duterte impeachment pretrial commences

MANILA, Philippines – The fifth day of the pretrial for Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment began on Thursday, continuing what’s left of the documents that need marking.

Still on the table after four days are the documents for impeachment Articles I and II, referring to Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds, and supposed accumulation of unexplained wealth.

Article I alone has a total of around 8,000 exhibits needed for marking as both the House prosecution panel and the defense submitted around 4,000 each.

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READ: Halfway through pretrial Day 4, 1,300 of 8,000 confi fund docs marked

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To expedite the process, six marking tables will be maintained – four of which will be dedicated to the first article, and the remaining two will be for the second article.

Each marking table will consist of members from the defense, the prosecution and the Office of the Senate Secretary, which serves as the clerk of court.

The conference will also not close until 7 p.m., which is two hours earlier than the initial schedule applied on the first three days of the meet.

Previously, the defense and prosecution teams hoped that the pretrial would end on Thursday at the latest, in accordance with the schedule set by the impeachment court.

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However, clerk of court Renato Bantug said he is open to utilizing Friday, should the pretrial conference need an additional day for marking.

On Wednesday, the House prosecution asked to unseal the Bureau of Internal Revenue box containing the tax records of Duterte, her husband and their firms, that may be pre-marked and admitted as evidence during the trial.

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According to Bantug, the decision to open said box is in the hands of the impeachment court, but marked or not during pretrial, the box may still be brought to the trial scheduled on June 6.

In the same breath, Bantug hoped that the pretrial order, which contains the findings of the impeachment court during the conference, would be issued at the latest by Monday or Tuesday.

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Although, he pointed out that by that time, the trial schedule would already be “tight.” /mr