Prosecutor: Sara Duterte impeachment raps can’t be reduced to just 2

Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez —Photo from the House of Representatives

MANILA, Philippines — A suggestion to consolidate all alleged violations listed in the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte into just two or three articles may be impossible, 1-Rider party-list Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez, a prosecution team member, said on Monday.

Furthermore, holding the trial from June 11 to June 30 will not be enough, he said in an ambush interview on Monday before the final hearing of the House of Representatives’ quad committee.

Both proposals — consolidating the verified impeachment complaint into two articles and holding the trial for 19 days — were made by Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino over the weekend.

READ: Sara Duterte impeachment: What you need to know

“We can’t comment on it right now with the possibilities… But personally, I don’t think it would be possible on our part to just consolidate it to two articles,” Gutierrez told reporters.

“I think it is not enough. If we take a look, if the timeline I saw is correct, it seems that we will be given only two days to present the evidence. And if you will divide it into seven articles, that will really not be enough time,” he added in a mix of English and Filipino.

According to Gutierrez, the prosecution still stands on the belief that the impeachment trial can cross over to the 20th Congress. As a fellow prosecution member, Iloilo 3rd District Rep. Lorenz Defensor, said before — that they consider the impeachment court similar to a trial court, which retains jurisdiction of cases regardless of who presides over the hearings.

“Yes, the prosecution still stands by that position that the impeachment can cross over to the 20th Congress as per jurisprudence of the US National Congress,” he noted.

READ: Sara Duterte impeachment will go on through next Congress, says solon

A total of 215 House members filed and signed a verified impeachment complaint against Duterte last February 5. There were seven articles mentioned in the verified complaint:

• betrayal of public trust, commission of high crimes due to her threats to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez
• betrayal of public trust and graft and corruption due to misuse of confidential funds (CF) within the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Office of the Vice President (OVP)
• betrayal of public trust and bribery within the DepEd
• violation of the 1987 Constitution and betrayal of public trust due to unexplained wealth and failure to disclose assets
• commission of high crimes, due to involvement in extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the drug war
• betrayal of public trust due to alleged destabilization plots and high crimes of sedition and insurrection
• betrayal of acts due to her unbecoming conduct as vice president

The articles mentioned in the verified impeachment complaint have similarities with the first petition, which was filed by 16 members of civil society groups last December 2.

Former Sen. Leila de Lima, spokesperson for the first set of complainants, previously said that among the issues they cited against Duterte were the misuse of confidential funds, the threats to ranking officials, and her supposed involvement in EJKs when she was Davao City mayor.

READ: First impeachment complaint vs VP Sara filed at House

The confidential fund issues that de Lima was referring to were the discoveries made by the House committee on good government and public accountability — like the admission from OVP and DepEd’s special disbursing officers that they left the disbursement of secret funds to security officers and allegations that fictitious personalities received CF payouts.

READ: Solon: SDO’s move to give up fund release role may lead to malversation

The threats, meanwhile, came after Duterte visited Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, her chief-of-staff, who was detained at the House premises last November 21. After this visit, Duterte locked herself inside the office of her brother, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte.

During a press briefing, Duterte revealed that she has talked to someone about killing Marcos, Araneta-Marcos, and Romualdez, if she gets assassinated.

READ: Sara Duterte’s kill remark vs Marcos is ‘active threat’ – Palace

Tolentino over the weekend proposed a 19-day impeachment trial, where the Senate would convene as an impeachment court on June 11, and then deliver judgment by June 30.

The schedule is anchored on the belief that the impeachment proceedings cannot cross over to the 20th Congress. The current set of lawmakers, under the 19th Congress, would end their term on June 30.

READ: Pimentel seeks Senate caucus to ‘clarify’ Escudero scenario

Earlier, several lawmakers have issued different views on Tolentino’s proposal, with some saying that it might not be enough to discuss all the evidence available.

On the part of Assistant Majority Leader Zia Alonto Adiong, he said he would respect whatever the decision of the Senate would be, adding that the House of Representatives had already fulfilled its mandate to deliver the impeachment articles.

Adiong noted that if the prosecution team deemed the time given to be not enough, there would be a time to argue that.

However, the lawmaker said what was important was that the Senate had determined a timeline.