The defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte said it is ready for the scheduled July 6 start of her Senate impeachment trial and may present “surprise witnesses” in response to the prosecution’s evidence.

Defense spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa, in a recent interview with Bilyonaryo News Channel, said the team has been preparing for the trial for more than a year and remains prepared following the conclusion of the pre-trial conference.

“For the part of the defense, we have been preparing for this for over a year now,” Poa said in a mix of English and Filipino. “We’re ready then and we’re ready to go into trial now,” he added.

Poa said the defense is awaiting the pre-trial order, which summarizes matters discussed during the proceedings and gives both sides an opportunity to comment.

“Marami ding nangyari nung pre-trial so we’re awaiting kung ano din yung lalabas sa order (A lot also happened during the pre-trial, so we’re awaiting whatever comes out in the order),” he said.

“If there is a need to comment, we will comment, but so far, wala namang (there are no) changes dun sa (in the) July 6 first trial date,” he added.

On June 29, the Senate Impeachment Court issued the pre-trial order to the House prosecution panel and Duterte’s legal team.

The court approved a 92-day trial period for Duterte, with 62 trial dates allotted to House prosecutors and 30 dates allotted to the Vice President’s defense team.

The House prosecution panel listed at least 57 witnesses, while the defense named 90 witnesses in its pre-trial brief.

However, Poa said the defense may not need to call all of its listed witnesses, depending on how the prosecution presents its case.

“I think we all know naman that it would still depend on how the prosecution presents their evidence, and we will have to react accordingly,” he said.

Poa said both sides also reserved witnesses who may be presented later in the proceedings.

“We have reserved witnesses and so did the prosecution,” he said. “May mga reserved witnesses kami and wala naman kaming problema doon as long as there is disclosure prior to the date that the witness will be presented (We have reserved witnesses, and we do not have any problem with that as long as there is disclosure before the date the witness will be presented),” Poa added.

He said the defense’s role would be to scrutinize the prosecution’s evidence and cross-examine witnesses presented before the Senate impeachment court.

“The burden is upon the prosecution to make their case first,” Poa said. “For the defense, depending on what they present, that’s the time we actually determine kung ano yung kailangan namin ilabas (For the defense, depending on what they present, that is when we determine what we need to present),” he added.