Prosecution undecided on dropping bribery allegation vs. Sara Duterte

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The House prosecution panel has yet to decide whether to drop the bribery charge in its impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte, lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro of Batangas said Monday.

“I wish to confirm what the other members of the prosecution said that there are serious inclinations [to drop the bribery charge]. But the fact that we are not yet manifesting it formally before the [Senate] impeachment court only means that the prosecution is not yet ready to officially withdraw this Article,” Luistro said in a press conference.

“There are considerations we are addressing, and this is what we meant when we said that while there are discussions…serious inclinations towards withdrawing Article 3, until we are yet to tell it to the impeachment court, it does not become official,” she added.

One of the allegations under the four Articles of impeachment is that the Vice President should be impeached for giving monetary gifts or payments to DepEd officials to induce the violation and circumvention of procurement and other related laws.

During the same press conference, Luistro assured the public that their evidence against the Vice President is strong, including in the bribery allegation.

“We are confident because our evidence is complete and strong for all four Articles concerning grave threats, confidential fund [misuse], unexplained wealth, and even bribery. If ever there are discussions about the possibility of withdrawing bribery, that is only in consideration of our commitment not to drag this trial too much,” Luistro said.

“We wanted to expedite this proceeding for the best interest of the Filipino people,” she added.

The impeachment trial of the Vice President has already hit Day 33 on October 5, Monday, since it started last July 6. —LDF, GMA News