By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — A member of the House prosecution panel on Wednesday strongly denied allegations from Vice President Sara Duterte’s legal team that prosecutors have been absent or leaving early during impeachment pretrial proceedings, calling the accusations false and unsupported by facts.
Lawyer Jay Tolosa, legal spokesperson of the private prosecution team, said public prosecutors and House representatives have consistently attended the Senate impeachment court’s pretrial conferences, contrary to claims made by Duterte’s counsel, lawyer Michael Poa.
“First of all, we have to state for the record that we don’t appreciate the fact that there’s a member of the defense team spreading lies about what’s actually going on in this pretrial conference, including the pre-marking of evidence,” Tolosa said in an online interview.
According to Tolosa, the presence of prosecution members has been documented through photographs, videos, and media coverage since the pretrial process began.
“Everyone has seen this. Numerous members of the public prosecutors have been attending the pre-marking conference not only last Thursday but throughout this week,” he said.
The exchange marks the latest public dispute between the prosecution and defense camps as preparations intensify for Vice President Duterte’s impeachment trial, scheduled to begin on July 6.
Poa had earlier disputed claims made by lead prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro that delays in the pretrial process were partly due to the defense team’s limited personnel assigned to evidence-marking activities.
Instead, Poa argued that it was the prosecution panel that often left before the day’s proceedings concluded.
Tolosa rejected the assertion, saying the issue of insufficient manpower was first raised by the defense itself.
“That’s not correct. In fact, that issue—that they didn’t have enough personnel—came from the defense last Monday. They admitted that they lacked the necessary personnel to accommodate the arrangement that we wanted regarding the number of marking teams,” he said.
Despite the disagreement, Tolosa maintained that the prosecution has continued working to ensure that preparations remain on schedule.
He added that additional legal personnel have been deployed to maximize the number of evidence-marking teams authorized by the Senate Impeachment Court.
The Senate earlier approved requests from the prosecution to expand the number of teams reviewing evidence and to extend working hours in an effort to speed up the pretrial process.
Under the new arrangement, four teams are now handling documents related to Article I of the impeachment complaint, which concerns the alleged misuse of confidential funds, while two teams are reviewing evidence tied to Article II involving alleged unexplained wealth.
Tolosa declined to speculate on the motives behind the defense’s statements but urged all parties to focus on completing pretrial requirements and avoid public exchanges that could distract from the proceedings.
“We just want to put on record that we do not appreciate lies being spread. Public prosecutors are actively participating and are present throughout the day,” he said.
The Senate Impeachment Court convened pretrial proceedings on June 18 to address evidentiary matters, witness identification, stipulations of fact, and scheduling issues ahead of the formal trial.
Despite disagreements between the parties, members of the prosecution panel expressed confidence that preparations remain on track for the July 6 opening of the impeachment trial against Vice President Duterte.
ia./xf
