The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte remains on track for July 6, with the marking of exhibits expected to be completed on Monday, lead prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro said Friday.
The Senate impeachment court started the pretrial conference on Thursday and is set to resume proceedings on June 22, while the trial proper remains scheduled to open on July 6.
Luistro said the parties had already begun marking exhibits, with the prosecution hoping that the remaining work would be finished when the pretrial conference resumes.
“So just to update, nag-start tayo kahapon ng marking of exhibits and hopefully matapos na this coming Monday. Kasi apat na articles of impeachment yan na ating isinampa. Iba ang documentary exhibits per article so ‘yung dalawang mahaba at marami, yan ang aming inihuli sa Monday (we started marking the exhibits yesterday and hopefully, we can finish this Monday. There were four articles of impeachment that we filed and each article has different sets of documentary evidence. We left the two longest articles with the most number of evidence for Monday),” she said.
“And then ang maliwanag kahapon, ang start talaga ng trial is July 6 at magtutuloy-tuloy na ‘yan (what as made clear yesterday was that July 6 will be the start of the trial, and that will definitely push through),” Luistro added.
The prosecution has repeatedly described the articles involving public funds and unexplained wealth as among the most document-heavy portions of the case.
The House prosecution panel has identified more than 30 possible witnesses, while Duterte’s defense team also submitted its own list of witnesses and documents before the pretrial process.
While both parties may have many witnesses, Luistro stressed that the key point for the public is that the trial date remains fixed at July 6.
Pretrial Order Binds VP Duterte trial
Luistro said the remaining step is to complete exhibit marking and wait for the issuance of the pretrial order that will guide the proceedings.
She said the pretrial order in the impeachment case will serve as the binding roadmap of the trial and will limit both prosecution and defense to the matters identified before the Senate impeachment court.
“In other words, ang purpose ng ating (the purpose of the) pre-trial conference is to simplify, to expedite, and to come up with a fair trial moving forward,” Luistro said.
“Parang ito ang blueprint, parang ito ang roadmap, parang ito ang order na susundan na natin (This serves as the blueprint, roadmap or order that we will follow) when we start the trial,” she added.
Luistro said the pretrial order would not merely summarize what happened during the conference but would control the conduct of the proceedings once the trial begins.
“As a matter of fact, bawal mag-deviate (it is prohibited to deviate) from the pre-trial order as a matter of rule,” she stressed.
She said one key function of the pretrial conference is to determine what facts can already be treated as admitted and what matters still need to be proven during trial.
“We call that stipulation of facts. The parties also submit their witness lists during pre-trial so the impeachment court can determine the hearing dates needed by both sides,” Luistro explained.
She added that both parties may still comment on the pretrial order if something discussed in the conference is omitted, misstated or needs to be added.
The House prosecution panel has submitted its pretrial brief and is preparing to present evidence on the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte, who denies the allegations and has called the case politically motivated. (PNA)