Impeachment prosecutors to file pretrial brief in Sara Duterte case
MANILA, Philippines — The House prosecution panel is expected to submit on Monday, June 15, its pretrial brief for the upcoming pretrial conference in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
House lead prosecutor and Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro described the pretrial brief as a "blueprint or roadmap" containing details necessary for the impeachment trial proceedings.
"'Yung nilalaman ng pretrial brief ng prosecution at ng defense, 'yun ang tatalakayin pagdating ng pretrial conference," Luistro said Monday in an interview with GMA News' "Unang Balita."
(The contents of the pretrial brief of the prosecution and the defense will be discussed at the pretrial conference.)
The pretrial conference is scheduled for June 18 at 9 a.m., according to the Notice of Pre-Trial Conference issued by the Senate impeachment court last week.
Both Duterte's camp and the House prosecution panel are expected to attend to discuss pretrial matters.
What is a pretrial brief?
According to Luistro, the pretrial brief contains crucial information related to the impeachment trial, including:
- list of facts that Duterte's camp may admit or deny,
- list of witnesses to be presented during trial and,
- documents that the House prosecution panel intends to present during the presentation of evidence.
"Ito po ang susundin sa atin pong pag-uumpisa ng paglilitis. And apparently the rule is 'yung nailagay mo lang sa pretrial brief or napapaloob sa pretrial order, 'yan lang ang pwede nating ilatag during the presentation of evidence," Luistro said.
(This will be the basis when the proceedings begin. And apparently, the rule is that only what is placed in the pretrial brief or included in the pretrial order may be presented during the presentation of evidence.)
The contents of the pretrial brief will then be discussed at the pretrial conference with the camp of the vice president, which will also prepare its own pretrial brief.
"Meron din silang sariling stipulation of facts. Papakinggan namin yun. Susuriin alin ang pwedeng payagan namin at alin yung hindi," Luistro said.
(They will also have their own stipulation of facts. We will listen to that. We will examine which ones we can allow and which ones we cannot.)
The purpose of stipulating facts, according to Luistro, is to lessen the issues for debate during the trial. Information admitted by both sides will no longer have to be argued, while information denied by either camp will have to be proven through the presentation of evidence.
"In other words, yung nilalaman ng pretrial brief ng prosecution at ng defense, 'yun tatalakayin pagdating ng pretrial conference. And then after ng pretrial conference, ano man ang mapagkasunduan, ito ang lalamanin naman ng pretrial order," Luistro said.
(In other words, the contents of the pretrial brief of the prosecution and the defense will be discussed during the pretrial conference. After the pretrial conference, whatever is agreed upon will be included in the pretrial order.)
Vote threshold dispute
Citing the Supreme Court ruling in Avelino v. Cuenco, Luistro said the current Senate leadership dispute could raise a "justiciable issue" on the number of votes needed to convict or acquit Duterte.
A justiciable issue is one that courts may decide, as opposed to a purely political question left to Congress.
"But kung hindi sila magkasundo-sundo, I believe that this is a justiciable issue… It should be the Supreme Court who should pronounce kung ano talaga ang tamang numero for the purpose of conviction considering that there are members who are outside the coercive power of the Philippine Senate," Luistro said.
(But if they cannot settle their conflicts, I believe that this is a justiciable issue. It should be the Supreme Court that pronounces the correct number for the purpose of conviction, considering that there are members who are outside the coercive power of the Philippine Senate.)
Luistro said the situation calls for a study on whether the Avelino v. Cuenco ruling may be applied to determine the required number of votes in Duterte's impeachment trial.
"Sa akin po dapat ito po'y pag-aralan din kung posible bang sundan din itong jurisprudence na ito for the purpose of determining the number of required votes for the purpose of conviction. Hindi lang conviction, pati acquittal," Luistro said.
(For me, this must also be studied to determine whether this jurisprudence may be followed for the purpose of determining the number of required votes for conviction. Not only conviction, but also acquittal.)
The impeachment proceedings against Duterte over alleged graft and corruption, bribery, unexplained wealth and grave threats are expected to begin on July 6.
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