Prosecution still undecided on dropping bribery article in Duterte trial
MANILA, Philippines — The House prosecution panel has yet to decide whether it will skip the bribery article against Vice President Sara Duterte and move straight to the unexplained wealth charge, prosecution adviser and spokesperson Robert Ace Barbers said Thursday, September 3.
Some prosecutors want to skip further presentation of evidence on bribery and focus on proving Duterte amassed unexplained wealth instead, the former congressman told Ted Failon Ngayon.
Others on the panel want to push through with all four articles, he said.
"Wala pang desisyon tungkol dito. Ito ay pinag-uusapan lamang sa prosecution," Barbers said.
(There is no decision on this yet. It is only being discussed within the prosecution.)
Barbers cited as examples the impeachment trials of former President Joseph Estrada and former Chief Justice Renato Corona where in both cases, senator-judges made the decisive vote even after prosecutors presented only two of several impeachment articles.
An announcement could come as early as this weekend or next week.
RELATED: Full Text: Articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte
Confident on grave threats and confidential funds articles
Barbers said the panel remains most confident about the two articles backed by witness testimonies so far: Article IV, which covers grave threats and inciting to sedition, and Article I, addressing Duterte's alleged misuse of confidential funds.
Regarding Article IV, Barbers believes that the prosecution has presented "heavy and strong" evidence.
"I hope our senator-judges will appreciate this as they weigh these pieces of evidence," he said in mixed English and Filipino.
Barbers said the same goes for Article I, based onthe testimonies from Land Bank managers who flagged "unusual" withdrawals, as well as witnesses from COA who testified that confidential fund spending violated provisions of the 2015 joint circular governing secret funds.
The prosecution's case was "strengthened even further when our hostile witnesses testified," Barbers said.
Yesterday, the impeachment court heard the testimony of the third hostile witness to be presented by the prosecution: former DepEd chief of staff and spokesperson of the defense panel Michael Poa.
Poa admitted under questioning that he had no personal knowledge of how the confidential funds were spent and had only learned of the existence of former DepEd special disbursing officer Edwin Fajarda during the 2024 House hearings.
Witness with illness may no longer be called
Fajarda may no longer testify because of his current health condition, Barbers said.
He is scheduled to appear on September 7, but the panel intends to skip his presentation if he isn't well by then.
If the panel drops the bribery article and calls fewer confidential funds witnesses, Barbers estimated the prosecution could wrap up by October. If it keeps the charge, he estimated a finish before November.
Either way, the panel hopes to close its presentation by December, Barbers said.
Article I accuses Duterte of misusing a combined P612.5 million in confidential funds — P500 million released to the OVP and P112.5 million to DepEd — while she ran both offices until mid-2024, when she resigned as DepEd secretary.
Aware that the Senate will soon be holding marathon budget herarings, presiding officer Sen. Chiz Escudero has floated additional trial dates in October and November, to work around the Senate's deliberations on the proposed P7.2-trillion national budget for 2027.
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