Impeachment court may rule on Sara Duterte case by end-November --Sen. Gatchalian

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The Senate impeachment court is targeting to issue its ruling on Vice President Sara Duterte’s case by the end of November, Senate President and senator-judge Sherwin Gatchalian said Sunday.

“Ako personally, baka we need mga 30 to 45 days from now... Ang isyu lang, magkakaroon kami ng 2-week break sa end of October. Hopefully within 30 to 45 days (calendar days),” Gatchalian told Super Radyo dzBB.

(I personally think we may need 30 to 45 days from now. The only issue is that we will have a two-week break at the end of October. Hopefully, within 30 to 45 calendar days.)

“Siguro mga mid-November to end of November [posibleng matapos ang impeachment trial at makapaghatol kay VP Duterte]. Tingin ko,” he added.

(Maybe by mid-November to the end of November, the impeachment trial could be completed, and a verdict could be handed down on VP Duterte.)

Gatchalian further said the goal is to finish the impeachment proceedings before Christmas, but recent changes may allow them to wrap up sooner.

“Marami kasing pagbabago. Una sa lahat, bumilis... Pangalawa, maraming testigo ang tinanggal at nagbigay ng mas mahabang oras ang impeachment court,” he said.

(There have been many changes. First, the proceedings have moved faster. Second, several witnesses were dropped, and the impeachment court gave us more time.)

The Senate impeachment court is currently tackling Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment on the unexplained wealth of Duterte.

In a separate dzBB interview, House trial spokesperson Representative Zia Alonto Adiong said the prosecution team is considering dropping the bribery charges against Duterte.

"Mukhang ang direction is hindi na siya ita-tackle. Maybe that's the direction pero hindi pa natin pina-finalize 'yan kasi ongoing pa rin ang discussion sa prosecution panel kung anong magiging susunod na hakbang pagkatapos ng Article 2," Adiong told Super Radyo dzBB.

(It appears that it will no longer be tackled. That may be the direction, but we have not finalized it yet because discussions are still ongoing among the prosecution panel on what the next steps will be after Article 2.)

Adiong then confirmed when asked whether the decision was because the first three impeachment articles were already strong enough to convict Duterte.

Article 3 accuses the Vice President of bribing officials of the Department of Education during her stint as DepEd secretary from 2022 to 2024. —KG, GMA News