House Prosecutors Undecided on Dropping Bribery Charge in Duterte Impeachment Trial

The House prosecution panel has yet to make a final decision on whether to drop the bribery charge under Article III of the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte. At a news forum on Saturday, House prosecution legal spokesperson Atty. Jay Tolosa said the prosecutors are still deliberating on the matter, considering both the sentiments of the senator-judges and the public to expedite the impeachment proceedings and avoid it continuing up to next year. “To be clear, there has been no final decision, it is included in the discussions of the panel right now,” Tolosa said. The Article III refers to the allegation that the Vice President committed bribery by giving monetary gifts or payments to Department of Education (DepEd) officials to induce the violation and circumvention of procurement and other related laws. So far, the prosecution has presented Article IV —which alleges that Duterte 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— and Article I which alleges that the Vice President committed an impeachable offense due to 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. "Only two remains, bribery and unexplained wealth," Tolosa said. He added that the House prosecution team has already collated records from the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Anti-Money Laundering Council for Article II, which argues that Duterte amassed unexplained wealth, stating these documents are crucial for the proceedings. However, Tolosa said that the prosecution may opt to present Article II first, to be followed by Article III. — RSJ, GMA News