A member of the 11-person House prosecution panel says the new impeachment trial timeline being floated in the Senate doesn't provide ample for them to properly present their evidence against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Lawyer-solon 1-Rider Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez had this to say in a chance interview with House reporters on Monday, June 9.
"Personally, I don't think it would be possible on our part to just consolidate it with the two articles, the trail of the full articles of impeachment that we have lined up," Gutierrez said.
There are seven articles of impeachment against the Vice President. The proposed timeline for the trial is from June 11 to 30--covering everything from the presentation of prosecution, the defense, and deliberation of the senator-judges.
It has been proposed that the House condense its seven articles of impeachment into just two to make it fit in the timeline.
"I think hindi po siya sapat. If we take a look, kung tama po yung nakikitang timeline, parang dalawang araw lang yung nabibigay for presentation of evidence (I don't think it's enough time. If we take a look, if timeline we're seeing is correct, it appears that only two days are given for the presentation of evidence)," Gutierrez said.
"And if you will divide it into seven articles, that will really not be enough time," he added.
Asked how long of an impeachment trial would the House prosecutors prefer, the party-list solon said: "We're not ready yet to say how much time we need, but definitely two days would not be enough."
The seven articles of impeachment against Duterte are as follows:
Article 1: Conspiracy to assassinate President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez;
Article 2: Malversation of P612.5 million in confidential funds;
Article 3: Bribery and corruption in Department of Education (DepEd);
Article 4: Unexplained wealth and failure to disclose assets;
Article 5: Involvement in extrajudicial killings (EJK);
Article 6: Destabilization, insurrection, and public disorder; and
Article 7: The totality of respondent's conduct as Vice President.
The current 19th Congress will adjourn sine die on June 11. The 20th Congress won’t official start until July.
Gutierrez says that the prosecution team maintains its position that Vice President Duterte's impeachment case can still be tackled in the next Congress.
"The presentation still stands by that position that the impeachment can cross over to the 20th Congress as per jurisprudence of the US (United States) National Congress."
At any rate, Gutierrez says the prosecution continues to prepare for an eventual Senate impeachment trial.
The House of Representatives submitted the impeachment complaint and the articles of impeachment against the second highest official of the land last Feb. 5.