House prosecutors may drop bribery article in VP Sara impeachment, target decision by year-end

House prosecutors are considering dropping the bribery charge under Article III of the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte, shifting focus to what they deem stronger allegations as they aim for a decision by year-end. "We are considering the dropping of one article, yes. So for now, we are studying if we will proceed to unexplained (wealth) after next week. Although there is no final (decision yet). But that is one of the things we are considering," House prosecution spokesperson Joel Chua told GMA News. The bribery allegation accuses the Vice President of impeachable offenses for giving monetary gifts or payments to Department of Education (DepEd) officials to induce the violation and circumvention of procurement and other related laws. "Well first of all, the first two articles we presented are already strong. We believe those are strong," Chua stated. However, he added, "But we cannot drop the unexplained (wealth) because that's what people are waiting for, right?" underscoring their intent to pursue this particular charge. To date, the panel has presented evidence for the following Articles: Article 4, which alleges the Vice President committed an impeachable offense by contracting for the assassination of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and former speaker of the House and incumbent Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez, by making grave threats, and by actively inciting sedition against the republic. Article 1, which alleges the Vice President committed an impeachable offense due to the systematic misuse, misappropriation, and irregular liquidation of confidential funds amounting to P500 million released to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and P112.5 million released to the DepEd during her tenure as Education chief. The prosecution is also expected to present evidence for Article 2, which argues that the Vice President must be impeached due to: - amassing unexplained wealth manifestly disproportionate to her lawful income and earnings during her incumbency as a public official; - failure to fully and truthfully disclose all her and her spouse's assets, liabilities, and net worth in her statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) including in her SALN for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024; and - failure to divest, and instead, willfully continued, all her business interests during her tenure as vice president for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. Regarding the timeline, Chua added that prosecutors expect to finish presenting evidence on the confidential funds issue next week, with one or two more witnesses still under consideration. The prosecution targets completing its entire presentation by the first half of October. The defense is aiming to finish its case by November, potentially allowing the Senate impeachment court to issue a decision before the end of the year. "So... and we do not want it protracted, the hearing. Of course, we do not want this to continue until next year. We also have targets. So hopefully by end of November, the defense will be done. So if we [the prosecution panel] finish in the first week of October or middle of October, the defense can already start. So they have until November," Chua said. Chua clarified that dropping the bribery article should not be viewed as a sign of weakness, emphasizing that prosecutors remain intent on pursuing the article on alleged unexplained wealth. He cited the 2012 impeachment of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, where the prosecution dropped more articles, stating, "If you will see it, there is no impeachment trial that is intentionally prolonged ever." "In our view, we are able to present airtight evidence so far," Chua added. Furthermore, Chua mentioned that the filing of candidacy for the 2028 polls, set for October 2027, is also a factor in potentially reducing the number of impeachment articles. "The filing of candidacy is already next year, so we want this impeachment done by this time. And if the impeachment court will extend hours, it will speed up the process," he said. Source: GMA News Philippines