Prosecution also wants to fast-track Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial – spox

MANILA, Philippines – The House prosecution team in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial would cooperate with the Senate impeachment court to fast-track the expected months-long proceedings, its legal spokesman Benjamin Tolosa, Jr. said on Monday.

In a media briefing, Tolosa said that prosecutors also want to finish Duterte’s trial as soon as possible, but without sacrificing their presentation of the evidence deemed crucial in making the case to impeach the country’s second-highest official from office.

“We also want this concluded as soon as possible,” he said in Filipino. “We don’t wish to prolong it unnecessarily, but without sacrificing our ability to properly, efficiently and effectively present the evidence.”

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Duterte’s impeachment trial opened last week with a plan to hear one witness a day. The impeachment court managed only one for the entire week, as prosecutors and defense lawyers sparred over the testimony of a law enforcement agent who authenticated videos of Duterte’s threats against President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.

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READ: Prosecutors to scrutinize Sara Duterte’s fitness for office

For this week, prosecutors plan to call Duterte’s chief aide, Zuleika Lopez, along with another law enforcement agent and a House of Representatives security official to testify in support of the accusation that the vice president subverted constitutional order and undermined democratic norms when she said that she had hired someone to take revenge and assassinate the President, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she were killed.

The impeachment court has allotted a total of 92 trial days for the proceedings, including 11 days for the charge involving Duterte’s threat against Marcos, 31 days for alleged misuse of secret funds, eight days for bribery and 12 days for the vice president’s alleged unexplained wealth.

“After each time we present a witness and evidence, we always conduct an assessment to see what important matters were covered by our witness and what else is still needed,” said Tolosa.

“So we will make adjustments; some of the witnesses listed in our pre‑trial brief may no longer be called. If their intended testimony has already been covered by earlier witnesses, since our goal is to possibly shorten and speed up the trial,” he added. /edv

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