Sara Duterte faces 25 witnesses in impeachment trial over unexplained wealth

The House prosecution panel is eyeing to field around 25 witnesses to prove Article 2 of the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte, which accuses her of accumulating unexplained wealth, Prosecutor Joel Chua of Manila said Wednesday. “When I talked to Congressman Chel Diokno [of Akbayan] and Terry Ridon [of Bicol Saro party-list], they said they intend to present 10 witness, and that does not include bank officials yet,” Chua said in a press conference. Chua said that is why the prosecution submitted a request for admission, which asks the Vice President to admit the authenticity and ownership of certain bank accounts that are subject of the case, including those accounts she shares with her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, since she has personal knowledge of these things. “We asked for a stipulation because what I know is we will be fielding 15 bank officials [as witnesses]. If she will agree, our witnesses for this Article will be reduced by 10, more or less,” Chua added. Aside from bank officials, Chua said among those lined up as witnesses for the prosecution are former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla or any representative of the Ombudsman, as well as representatives from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Anti-Money Laundering Council. “We’ll get a feel of it as we go along. If we feel that we already established our point, we can choose to rest our case just like in the other Articles of Impeachment,” Chua said. The impeachment case alleges that the Vice President accumulated unexplained wealth through the following means: Impeachment proceedings in the Philippines serve as a critical check on public officials' misconduct, but often carry significant political undertones that can impact the nation's political stability.