Prosecution had its chance, but failed – VP Sara

MANILA, Philippines — The camp of Vice President Sara Duterte said the House prosecution team “had its chance but failed” in her Senate impeachment trial as the defense team takes its turn to present its evidence and witnesses beginning tomorrow.

Duterte spokesman Paolo Panelo hit back at the prosecution, particularly veteran lawyer Lorna Kapunan, over her statements during a press conference that Duterte’s “end is near.”

“We apparently live in two worlds. One where due process and fairness still reign – where an accused is not condemned before she is heard, and where allegations must be proven with clear and convincing evidence presented in court. The other is wherever Atty. Lorna Kapunan and her colleagues have decided these rules no longer apply,” Panelo said.

Kapunan said the defense team was running out of excuses after the impeachment court formally admitted into evidence the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) and Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) records of the Vice President and her husband Manases Carpio while denying the prosecution’s plea to include Commission on Audit (COA) reports regarding her controversial confidential funds.

“One world seeks the truth. The other desperately tries to persuade an increasingly skeptical public with asinine sound bites built on half-truths and malicious speculation, spewed out in daily, obtrusive and nauseating press briefings and interviews,” Kapunan added.

In a 21-page order issued on Thursday, presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero resolved the prosecution’s formal offer of documentary evidence on Article II (unexplained wealth), defining the exact legal parameters of the trial.

“The prosecution had its chance. It failed. On Monday, the Vice President begins her defense,” Panelo added.

To evaluate the Vice President’s wealth, the court admitted volumes of financial, corporate, tax and property documents dating from 2007 to 2021, overruling the defense’s continuing objection against the use of records that pre-date Duterte’s vice presidency.

However, the tribunal imposed a strict limitation on how these older documents can be used by the senator-judges.

No delay

The House prosecution said it will oppose attempts to prolong the impeachment trial, according to its spokesman Jay Tolosa Jr.

He said delays could arise if the defense insists on presenting evidence on the three withdrawn Articles of Impeachment (confidential funds, bribery and grave threats) or demands the full 30 trial days originally allotted for all four articles.

“It will not serve any legitimate purpose,” Tolosa said at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

“If they still present evidence on the articles that were already dropped, it will only cause delay in this case,” he added.

Only Article II, which covers allegations of unexplained wealth, remains. Tolosa said the defense no longer needs the 30 trial days originally allotted for all four charges.

“It’s reasonable that this should be accordingly decreased now, considering that only one article remains,” he said.

He said preventing unnecessary delays was among the reasons the prosecution narrowed the case to a single article. — Daphne Galvez, Marc Jayson Cayabyab