The prosecution panel in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte will prioritize the presentation of evidence concerning the alleged unexplained wealth before proceeding to the bribery allegations, Lead House Prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro said Monday, September 7.
Luistro clarified that the change involves only the order of presentation and does not mean that the prosecution is abandoning or waiving its bribery-related Articles of Impeachment.
“The only thing that is being changed is the order of presentation. We will be proceeding to unexplained wealth first, after which we will end with the presentation of evidence for bribery,” Luistro said.
The prosecution’s decision comes as the impeachment trial continues with the presentation of its evidence against Duterte. Rather than immediately proceeding to the bribery allegations, the panel will first focus on evidence related to the alleged unexplained wealth.
Luistro emphasized that the bribery allegations will remain part of the prosecution’s case and will still be supported by evidence at a later stage of the proceedings.
The prosecution is currently presenting evidence related to the impeachment charges against Duterte, who faces allegations involving the misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth and other offenses contained in the Articles of Impeachment.
The sequencing of the evidence presentation is expected to allow the prosecution to complete its presentation on unexplained wealth before moving to the remaining evidence concerning the bribery allegations.
The development came as the Senate impeachment court continued proceedings on Monday, with the prosecution maintaining it would pursue all the charges included in its case against the Vice President.
