Prosecutors forego presentation of CSC witness for Sara Duterte's impeach trial

Make this your preferred source to get more updates from this publisher on Google.

The House prosecution panel on Monday decided to forgo presenting Atty. Ariel Ronquillo of the Civil Service Commission as a witness for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

House prosecutor Terry Ridon informed the court of the decision during Day 27 of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Ronquillo was supposed to testify on the preparation and filing of Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), including the rules governing their interpretation and application.

The prosecutors are currently presenting evidence to prove Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment against the Vice President, which accuses her of accumulating unexplained wealth through the following:

• failure to fully and truthfully disclose all her and her spouse's assets, liabilities, and net worth in her statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) including in her SALN for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024; and
• failure to divest, and instead, willfully continued, all her business interests during her tenure as vice president for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

As this developed, Ridon also asked the Senate impeachment court to allow the prosecutors to present their other witness, Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) Division Chief Rendell Sopeña, on Tuesday instead of today, September 21, since Sopeña only received the subpoena or order from the court to testify last September 18.

The Senate impeachment court granted Ridon’s appeal.

As a result, the House prosecution will present Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Company Registration and Monitoring Department Director, lawyer Gerardo del Rosario, for Day 27 of the impeachment trial.

Del Rosario is expected to authenticate SEC records involving companies in which Duterte declared business interests.

Atty. Karen Batu, officer-in-charge of the Office of the Ombudsman’s Central Records Division, earlier testified that while the Vice President declared her business interests in her SALN, she did not declare shares of stock. —AOL, GMA News