Palace: Impeachment trial won't cause division, affect gov't work

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Thursday dismissed concerns that the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte would result in division among Filipinos, noting that such thing would only arise from the spread of fake news and attempts to evade accountability.

The pre-trial proceedings on Duterte’s impeachment case resumed on June 22 and are set to conclude today, while the impeachment trial is scheduled to begin on July 6.

READ: Marcos on Duterte impeachment: Not my job, it’s the House’s

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“Strengthening accountability and transparency for public servants is for the people; it should not be a cause of division. The only real source of division among Filipinos would be people who create fake news and those who want to hide or cover up evidence so that the individuals they support or idolize can escape accountability,” said Palace Press Officer Claire Castro at a briefing.

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“The public needs to see the truth. When we see the truth, we become even more united because we know when we should believe and when we should not believe what others are saying,” she added.

She also assured the public that government operations will not be affected once the impeachment trial begins.

“The executive branch, the President, does not get delayed in implementing projects; work continues regardless of any issue, unless there are people who intentionally want to delay the President’s projects. But of course, that will be opposed, and it will not be allowed for government projects to be delayed just because of certain obstructionists,” Castro said.

The Senate, for its part, has its own mandate as an impeachment court, and senators are responsible enough to fulfill their duties as senator-judges, she said.

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“Hopefully, there will be no more boycotts of the sessions,” the Palace official said.

Meanwhile, Castro described as a “strategy” confidential payment recipient Mary Grace Piattos’ inclusion among the 57 witnesses listed by the prosecution panel for Duterte’s impeachment trial.

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“That’s their strategy, but according to the PSA [Philippine Statistics Authority] there is no Mary Grace Piattos, so they might find it difficult to find Mary Grace Piattos,” she said.

The prosecution said Piattos will be asked to “testify on their alleged receipt of confidential funds.”

Piattos is among the names used to sign acknowledgement receipts as supposed recipients of confidential funds under the Office of the Vice President’s aid program. The Philippine Statistics Authority earlier confirmed that the name does not exist in its records.

Defense lawyer Michael Poa, meanwhile, said the inclusion of Piattos in the list of witnesses is the prosecution panel’s prerogative.

“On our part, that is the prosecution’s prerogative as to whom they will present as witnesses. Definitely, if they are presented, we will be ready to cross-examine them,” Poa said in Filipino.

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Asked if Piattos was also listed in the defense team’s pretrial brief, Poa said she was not. /mr