By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — The House prosecution panel on Thursday expressed gratitude to the Senate impeachment court for ensuring the successful completion of the five-day pretrial proceedings in the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte despite the overwhelming volume of documentary evidence presented by both parties.
Lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro announced that the marking of exhibits had been completed and the pretrial conference officially concluded after sessions held from June 18 and June 22 to 25. The proceedings pave the way for the formal impeachment trial, which is scheduled to begin on July 6.
“The marking of exhibits has been completed, and the pretrial conference has been terminated,” Luistro said during a press briefing following Thursday’s session.
Joining Luistro were prosecutors Leila de Lima, Chel Diokno, Joel Chua, Terry Ridon, and private prosecutor Benjamin Jay Tolosa Jr..
Luistro credited the Senate impeachment court for facilitating the orderly handling of thousands of documentary exhibits, particularly those involving allegations of unexplained wealth and the Vice President’s confidential funds.
She described the pretrial as a success, saying the prosecution deliberately avoided being sidetracked by procedural disputes in order to expedite the proceedings.
The prosecution disclosed that it marked more than 4,000 documentary exhibits, including over 2,000 records from the Office of the Vice President and nearly 1,900 from the Department of Education relating to confidential fund expenditures.
According to Luistro, the defense refused to use common markings for identical documents, forcing both sides to separately mark the same evidence. As a result, the total number of documentary markings doubled to around 8,000.
Rep. Chua explained that the process became even more time-consuming because every marked exhibit required signatures from the prosecution, the defense, and impeachment court personnel.
Addressing the defense’s claim that one prosecution exhibit contained a missing page, Chua dismissed the issue as an isolated incident, saying it did not affect the integrity of the overall evidence.
The prosecution likewise renewed its request for the Senate impeachment court to authorize the opening of a sealed box provided by the Bureau of Internal Revenue containing tax records relevant to the impeachment article alleging unexplained wealth.
Luistro said the House intentionally left the box unopened after receiving it from the BIR, believing that only the impeachment court should determine when and how its contents would be examined. She added that the defense opposed not only the opening of the sealed records but also their inclusion as marked evidence.
With the pretrial now concluded, the House prosecutors said they are awaiting the Senate impeachment court’s formal pretrial order before the impeachment trial against Vice President Duterte begins on July 6.
ia/xf
