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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Luistro lectures VP Duterte on difference between persecution and prosecution

Luistro lectures VP Duterte on difference between persecution and prosecution

Published Jul 9, 2025 01:45 pm

At A Glance

  • Batangas 1st district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro explained in layman's terms on Wednesday, July 9 the difference between "persecution" and "prosecution" as it relates to the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Vice President Sara Duterte (left), Batangas 1st district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro (PPAB)
Vice President Sara Duterte (left), Batangas 1st district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro (PPAB)


Batangas 1st district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro explained in layman's terms on Wednesday, July 9 the difference between "persecution" and "prosecution" as it relates to the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.
"Kung walang ebidensya (if there is no evidence), that is political persecution. Pero kung may ebidensya (But if there's evidence), that is a legitimate prosecution," Luistro told House of Representatives reporters in a chance interview Wednesday, July 9.
Luistro is part of the 11-person prosecution panel tasked to get a guilty verdict on Vice President Duterte.
Earlier, Vice President Duterte welcomed the results of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, which showed that 42 percent of Filipinos disagreed with the impeachment case against her. Meanwhile, 32 percent of the respondents agreed with the impeachment proceedings.
“Siguro marami sa ating mga kababayan ang naiintindihan kung ano ang ginagawa laban sa akin at sa akin pamilya (I think a lot of our countrymen understand what's being done against me and my family). It’s pure political persecution,” Duterte was quoted as saying.
But Luistro, a lawyer like the vice president, says the prosecution team holds strong evidence against the controversial official.
"As far as we are concerned, we have ample and strong evidence supporting the seven articles of impeachment," said the "Young Guns" bloc member.
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.
At any rate, Luistro said the only way forward is to push through with the long-delayed trial.
"Regardless of the result of the survey we have a constitutional duty that we really have to face. There is nothing which is more supreme than the Philippine Constitution, sapagkat ito po ang mandato ng taumbayan (because this is the people's mandate)," she said.
"So regardless of the result of the survey, mataas man ang porsyento ng sumusuporta sa impeachment, or mababa man ang porsyento ng sumusuporta sa impeachment (whether there's a high or low percentage of impeachment supporters), this is mandatory for us to conduct a trial," Luistro further said.
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