House lead prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro on Wednesday, July 22, maintained that the proceedings conducted by the House Committee on Justice regarding the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte were not a “mini-trial,” but only a clarificatory hearing.
The statement came during the ninth day of the Senate impeachment trial when defense counsel Atty. Mark Vinluan used the term “mini-trial” while questioning National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag during cross-examination.
Vinluan questioned Matibag regarding the timing of Administrative Order No. 11 and referred to the House proceedings where the NBI director appeared as a witness as a “mini-trial.”
Luistro immediately objected, emphasizing that the prosecution has consistently rejected the characterization of the House inquiry as a trial.
“I just want to enter a continuing objection to the use of ‘mini-trial.’ It was never a mini-trial. It is a clarificatory hearing,” Luistro said.
When Vinluan argued that Luistro herself was the one who described the proceedings as a mini-trial, the House prosecutor reiterated that the House Committee on Justice only conducted a hearing allowed under impeachment rules.
“The prosecution has been very consistent that what we did in the Committee on Justice of the House of Representatives is never a mini-trial. It is a clarificatory hearing consistent to the House rules on impeachment and even consistent to the provisions of Article 11 of the Constitution,” Luistro said.
The exchange occurred as the defense team continued its cross-examination of Matibag, the prosecution’s witness in the impeachment case involving alleged threats made by Vice President Duterte against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
