Prosecution sees no need for more evidence in Sara Duterte impeachment trial

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The House prosecution panel does not see the need to present more evidence on the alleged unexplained wealth of Vice President Sara Duterte in her ongoing impeachment trial.

At a news forum in Quezon City, House private prosecutor Benjamin "Jay" Tolosa Jr. said the panel is satisfied with the pieces of evidence it presented already on the supposed unexplained wealth and undeclared assets amounting to P817.87 million held by Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio.

“We’re satisfied with that. We don’t see the need to present additional evidence,” Tolosa said.

This came amid reports that the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) informed the Senate impeachment court that the Vice President held dollar accounts in the bank.

Duterte’s defense team, however, decided not to present a witness from the BPI.

Nonetheless, Tolosa said the prosecution was ready to cross examine the witness from BPI concerning the alleged dollar accounts of the Vice President.

“All other foreign currency denominated accounts hindi po ‘yan na-subpoena dahil nga hindi ‘yan pinayagan dahil sa applicable bank secrecy laws. So, we’re just mentioning na napansin namin na itong inatras na testigo may naka-mention na sa mga dokumento pertaining to foreign currency, dollar accounts ng Vice President,” he said.

(All other foreign currency denominated accounts were not subpoenaed because it is not allowed under applicable bank secrecy laws. So we're just mentioning that we noticed that this witness which was withdrawn was mentioned in documents pertaining to foreign currency, dollar accounts of the Vice President.)

The lawyer noted that the prosecution team is confident on the pieces of evidence, such as records of foreign currency transactions of Calle88, which is 47.5% owned by Carpio, it has already presented during the trial.

Meanwhile, the defense panel of the Vice President is likely to finish presenting its case before the end of November.

The next proceedings for Duterte’s impeachment trial are scheduled for November 19 to 20, after which the Senate will take a break from the trial to focus on the 2027 national budget.

Thereafter, the next trial day is expected to resume on December 1. —KG, GMA News