Prosecution drops all cases vs Sara Duterte except unexplained wealth
MANILA, Philippines – The prosecution team in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte withdrew all but one of the articles of impeachment to expedite the proceedings, a move that the impeachment court accepted.
In an open court manifestation on Tuesday, October 13, lead prosecutor Gerville “Jinky” Luistro said they would retain only the unexplained wealth case against the Vice President, dropping the impeachment articles against Duterte on alleged confidential fund misuse, bribery, and threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“The prosecution believes it has presented sufficient evidence for Article 2 to stand on its own. We are all in here. We believe that evidence is substantial and compelling, and warrants the respondent’s removal from office for culpable violation of Constitution and betrayal of public trust,” Luistro said.
“Had we proceeded on all four articles, the impeachment court will have had to consider the evidence offered for each together with the corresponding objections and arguments. By focusing on one article, the matters requiring the impeachment court’s consideration are correspondingly narrow, with practical benefits, for the Senate, for the respondent, and even the public,” Luistro added.
Mistrial?
Responding to the move, the defense team said that while the prosecution has the prerogative to drop cases, it cannot dictate how the Duterte camp would proceed.
“The prosecution cannot be allowed to have the benefit of its accusations without bearing the burden of having those accusations tested,” said defense lawyer Sheila Sison.
Sison also warned of a mistrial, should the prosecution’s dropping of cases force the defense team to shorten its presentation of evidence.
“That prerogative to withdraw an accusation is not the power to suppress its rebuttal on the part of the respondent,” Sison said. “The authority to streamline or to achieve speed in a trial is not the authority to diminish due process or to altogether disregard fundamental rules of fairness and the desire to reach a verdict.”
The court, however, said that the withdrawal of the confidential funds misuse and alleged threats cases against the Vice President effectively restricts the prosecution from reviving or refiling the same charges with the court during the 20th Congress.
Presiding officer Chiz Escudero added that the defense team no longer needs to present counter-evidence for all the dropped cases, and can focus on rebutting the prosecution’s unexplained wealth case.
The sub judice rule no longer applies to the dropped articles, allowing all parties to address the allegations publicly.
Defense’s objection
In a later manifestation, Sison registered the defense’s objection to Escudero’s ruling.
Sison argued that dropping the articles denied Duterte the right to challenge the evidence the prosecution had already presented. She added that while the prosecution has the prerogative to withdraw articles of impeachment, this authority does not equate to the power to diminish due process.
“They [prosecution] cannot make decisions for the defense and the respondent,” said Sison. – With reports from Jairo Bolledo/Rappler.com
