LIST: VP Sara’s witnesses for Nov. 9–13 hearings
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte’s lawyers have submitted a witness lineup for the Senate impeachment proceedings, in which they plan to call bank officials and city assessors to address the remaining charge against her of alleged unexplained wealth.
In a statement on Thursday, November 5, impeachment court spokesperson Regie Tongol said the defense filed two manifestations on November 4 asking the court to subpoena 25 individuals for hearings from November 9 to 13.
Presiding officer Sen. Chiz Escudero will act on the requests based on the court’s rules and its standards on relevance and admissibility, Tongol said.
The court also said the trial would go ahead despite a pending Supreme Court challenge to the voter threshold issue.
Through the Office of the Solicitor General, the Senate has asked the High Court to throw out a petition filed by Senators Robin Padilla and Bong Go — both allies of Duterte — and to deny their plea for a restraining order.
The defense’s planned first witness however — Ralph Sarmiento, a former law dean at the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City — has asked to not be called to the stand.
Sarmiento, who was scheduled to testify Monday on constitutional principles relevant to Article II, said that he was declining “to preserve the independence of my constitutional law scholarship.”
Defense spokesperson Michael Poa said the team respected the decision.
The remaining charge, Article II, accuses Duterte of amassing unexplained wealth, failing to fully declare her and her husband’s assets in her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), and retaining business interests barred by the Constitution.
House prosecutors dropped the three other articles — on confidential funds, bribery and grave threats — when they rested their case on October 13.
Luistro said on November 1 that the trial could end before the close of November if the defense uses the 10 full trial days it has asked for.
Hearings resume at 10 a.m. on Monday, November 9, with sessions also set for November 10 to 13, 19, 20 and 23.
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