Cheyenne Suarez

House prosecutors to read articles of impeachment vs Sara Duterte in Senate on June 2

Article (news)

Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- All 11 members of the House prosecution panel will be at the Senate on June 2 for the reading during open session of the seven charges under the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, according to a member of the House panel. San Juan City Rep. Ysabel Zamora said this is in compliance with the letter of Senate President Francis Escudero.In the letter addressed to House Speaker Martin Romualdez, Escudero said the Senate shall be ready to receive the House panel of prosecutors on June 2, at 4PM. The Senate will be convened as an impeachment court on the morning of June 3 to issue summons and other relevant orders.In a letter to Escudero on Thursday, House Speaker Martin Romualdez confirmed that the House of Representatives received his letter, and that it will be transmitted to the panel of House Prosecutors.“We will be there as stated in his letter, and we will read the Articles of Impeachment. ‘Yun lang po ‘yung gagawin namin sa June 2, kasi ‘yun lang naman po ‘yung nakalagay doon sa sulat nila,” Zamora said.“At least there&#x27;s clarity as regards the schedule.. The prosecution has been preparing since we were appointed or elected as prosecutors. Madami na din po kaming nagawa… I think we’re well prepared to handle the upcoming impeachment. So, it&#x27;s a little exciting for us, I guess, na matutuloy na,” she added.She issued the statement after members of the House prosecution panel resumed on Thursday their weekly meetings following the midterm elections. Among the attendees were Zamora, Antipolo City 2nd District Romeo Acop, 1-RIDER Party List Representative Rodge Gutierrez, Bukidnon 2nd District Representative Jonathan Keith Flores, and Oriental Mindoro 1st District Representative Arnan Panaligan.Akbayan Party List Representative-elect Chel Diokno and ML Party List Representative-elect Leila de Lima, who both accepted the offer to join the prosecution were not yet part of the meeting. They will assume office on June 30.<div>&#x27;90% READY&#x27;</div>The House prosecution is 90% ready for the impeachment trial tentatively scheduled to begin on July 30, based on Zamora’s estimate.Despite the presence of the so-called “Duterte bloc” at the upper chamber, the House prosecutor expressed confidence that it will be difficult for the senator-judges to acquit the Vice President once they have presented their evidence.Last February, the House of Representatives impeached Duterte over alleged betrayal of public trust, culpable violations of the Constitution, and/or commission of high crimes. The allegations stemmed from the supposed misuse of confidential funds and from allegedly contracting an assassin and plotting to murder the incumbent President, the First Lady and the House Speaker. Duterte had denied these allegations.“I understand that there appears to be a lot of pro-Duterte senators. But the prosecution is prepared and we have evidence to support the different Articles of Impeachment. So I hope that when we present the articles to the public, makikita po ng senators and the public as well, that the pieces of evidence that we have are sufficient to convict the Vice President. I think it will be difficult to acquit the Vice President in view of the numerous pieces of evidence that we have,” Zamora said.“We&#x27;ve had a mock trial before. We prepared the judicial affidavits for the witnesses. We examined witnesses. So, ngayon, siguro medyo iba. We&#x27;re not interviewing witnesses now, at least in the article that I&#x27;m handling. But, we&#x27;re reviewing all of the documentary evidence that we already have on hand,” she added.Zamora also gave assurances the prosecution’s work will continue despite the President’s pronouncement that he is open for a reconciliation with the Duterte family. She said the statement was not tackled in the meeting of the House prosecutors.“It wasn&#x27;t even mentioned, but I would think everyone present in our meeting, the prosecution, the prosecutors, the private lawyers also, I would think that everyone&#x27;s in agreement that we will proceed with the impeachment, simply because it&#x27;s our duty to do so,” Zamora said.On Wednesday, Zamora said the House prosecution will continue to seek a conviction “with the same vigor”.“We will pursue it with the same eagerness, same vigor as before...We will always stand by our job and we will do our best to prosecute the case… We are doing this para sa bayan, kaya kailangan po natin ipagpatuloy ito,” she said.

All 11 members of the House prosecution panel will be at the Senate on June 2 for the reading during open session of the seven charges under the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, according to a member of the House panel.

All 11 members of the House prosecution panel will be at the Senate on June 2 for the reading during open session of the seven charges under the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, according to a member of the House panel.