The House prosecution team has decided to drop the bribery allegations against Vice President Sara Z. Duterte from its impeachment case, saying it has presented sufficient evidence on the three other articles and wants to avoid prolonging the proceedings.
Bukidnon 2nd District Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores, one of the House prosecutors, said Friday that the team had formally informed the Senate impeachment court of its decision in a manifestation filed on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
“I think we already filed our manifestation last Tuesday pa, that we will be dropping bribery,” Flores said during the prosecution team’s lunch break press briefing.
“So the team already came to a decision na we will end with Article II,” he added.
Article III covers allegations that Duterte bribed Department of Education (DepEd) officials to influence procurement decisions during her tenure as education secretary.
Flores said the prosecution believed it had presented enough evidence on the other three articles and saw little reason to extend the trial by pursuing the bribery allegations.
“Ang timetable na sinasabi namin is that we think we have already presented enough on all the three articles, and to drag it further pa na i-include pa namin ’yung bribery might be siguro stretching the patience not only of the people but also of the senator-judges, too long na,” he said.
The prosecution has presented evidence under Article I, which concerns the alleged misuse of confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President and DepEd, and Article IV, which covers allegations that Duterte threatened President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez during a livestream in November 2024.
The team is completing its presentation under Article II, which concerns alleged unexplained wealth involving Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio.
The prosecution has cited bank transactions, tax records, property documents and Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth in presenting its allegations under the article.
Flores said the prosecution’s original request for 60 days to present its case had accounted for possible interruptions and other developments that could affect the trial schedule.
He also said the decision to drop the bribery article rested with the prosecution team and had drawn no objection from the impeachment court.
“There was no reaction naman from the impeachment court, kasi it’s totally at the discretion of the prosecution team po kung anong articles ang ipro-prosecute nila,” Flores said.
Fellow House prosecutor and 1-Rider Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez stressed that dropping one article would not affect the standing of the other allegations.
“All articles that were filed in the impeachment, all articles of impeachment that were filed, would stand on their own,” Gutierrez said.
Flores said the prosecution would rest its case after completing its presentation under Article II, without presenting further evidence on the bribery allegations.
Photo courtesy of Inquirer.net
Comments