THE House prosecution panel may shorten its lineup of witnesses for the impeachment charge over Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds if it determines that the evidence is already sufficient, House prosecutor and Manila Rep. Joel Chua said Saturday.
Chua said prosecutors have identified about 13 witnesses for Article I of the impeachment complaint but may not present all of them if the allegations can already be established through fewer testimonies and documentary evidence.
“So kung ma-shorten po namin ‘yung proseso, let’s say after presenting eight or nine witnesses, tingin namin ay solid na solid na, we can move on to the next article,” Chua said during the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.
According to the chairperson of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, reducing the number of witnesses would not come at the expense of the strength of the prosecution’s case.
“Hindi naman po ibig sabihin ‘pag sinabi nating ma-limit [ang number of witnesses], e magsa-suffer ‘yung tibay ng ebidensya,” he pointed out.
Article I accuses Duterte of misusing P612.5 million in confidential funds received by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) between 2022 and 2023.
The prosecution began presenting evidence on the article last Wednesday through two former Land Bank of the Philippines branch managers who testified that Treasury checks totaling P612.5 million originated from the National Treasury and were withdrawn in cash by authorized Special Disbursing Officers of the OVP and DepEd.
Beginning Monday, prosecutors are expected to present two Commission on Audit auditors and a House records custodian as they shift from tracing the movement of the funds to examining how they were spent and liquidated.
Chua said the prosecution adopted the same approach in presenting its evidence on Article IV, which accuses Duterte of threatening President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez.
He said prosecutors initially lined up about 11 witnesses for that article but rested their case after presenting only three.
“Kagaya po doon sa threat, mga 11 po yata ’yung mga testigo. Pero after presenting three witnesses, napatunayan na namin ’yung purpose na gusto naming makuha. So tumigil na po kami,” he said.
Chua said the prosecution aims to present only the witnesses necessary to establish each impeachment article while avoiding unnecessary delays in the proceedings.
“Once na na-meet na namin sa tingin namin matibay na ‘yung ebidensya, at ’yung mga ebidensya ay magdadagdag lamang ng tibay, ayaw naman po natin ng mahabang proseso o hearing,” Chua pointed out.
“As much as possible, gusto natin matapos na itong proseso nang sa ganun ay madesisyunan na kung ano talaga ’yung magiging hatol ng ating mga senador-judges
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