Joselito Malig

Article (news)

Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

MANILA - Ten of the 11 House prosecutors faced the media together on Tuesday after entering their appearance before the Senate sitting as an impeachment court on Monday for the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.Lead public prosecutor Gerville Luistro commended the convening of the court, adding that the trial should also proceed “forthwith.”“It is the trial that is mandated to be forthwith. We therefore look forward that after the pre-trial, we will immediately proceed to the presentation of witnesses, presentation of evidence, and consequently to the judgment. By judgment, it&#x27;s only either acquittal or conviction,” she said.Luistro has also been designated to lead the prosecutors handling the first article of impeachment, which accuses the Vice President of confidential fund misuse. These include Representatives Joel Chua, Lorenz Defensor, Rodge Gutierrez, Lordan Suan, Jonathan Keith Flores, Chel Diokno, Terry Ridon, and Leila de Lima.Ridon, meanwhile, leads the prosecutors handling the second article alleging unexplained wealth. Among these prosecutors are Diokno, Representative Kaka Bag-ao, Gutierrez, Luistro, Chua, De Lima, Suan, and Flores.Those assigned to handle the third article on alleged bribery of Education officials are Representatives Ysabel Zamora, Gutierrez, and Bag-ao. They are led by Chua for that particular article.Zamora, De Lima, and Luistro will handle the fourth article on alleged grave threats against the President, the first lady, and the former House Speaker. Defensor will lead the presentation of this article.The leads for the four articles of impeachment expressed confidence in their evidence to support the allegations.“The evidence being very obvious and very clear, it speaks for itself… We are certain that once the evidence is presented in the Senate impeachment court, we can secure a conviction even for this article alone,” Defensor said.“We will seek to present it during trial kasama po diyan yung unsealing of the BIR box, kasama din po dito yung pagbubukas ng bank accounts ng mag-asawang Duterte Carpio. So given the entirety of the body of evidence that we had seen, tingin ko naman po on unexplained wealth pa lang po, we can secure a conviction of the Vice President,” Ridon added.Asked about the possibility that a senator-judge may move to block their presentation of evidence, the prosecutors gave this response.“The decision on admissibility of evidence are made by the Senate as an impeachment court, but the discretion to present evidence, kung ano pa iyong ihahain namin na ebidensya ay nasa kamay ng prosecution. The court cannot interfere with that discretion kaya&#x27;t sa simula pa lang kung gusto namin magtawag ng witness o magpresenta ng dokumento ay nasa prosecution &#x27;yon. Now, later on, whether how the Senate will evaluate that evidence or whether they will admit it will be subject, of course, to arguments on both side and a decision by the court. Wala naman pinagkaiba &#x27;yan sa regular na korte,” Diokno said. “Hindi kami nag-aalala na haharangin ang ebidensya namin ilalabas sa impeachment trial. Kung haharangin ang ebidensya namin, remember that we are not the ones in trial. Hindi pwedeng harangin ng teknikalidad ang procedure sa isang impeachment court,” Defensor added.Luistro and De Lima also asserted the Vice President should attend her trial and answer the allegations in the articles of impeachment.“In addition to that being part of due process, this is likewise her Constitutional duty. Let us remember the mandate of transparency and accountability pronounced in the Constitution, and I think the people are waiting for her answers. Aligned to that accountability mandate, I believe she should attend and present her defense,” Luistro explained.If Duterte or her camp chooses to skip participating in the trial, Luistro said the trial will still continue.“Those things will be considered plea of not guilty. (04:04) Kung darating ‘yung sitwasyon na ebidensya lang ng prosecution ang malalatag at walang ebidensiyang mailalatag ang defense… that will be an exclusive judgment of the Senator-judges.  But of course, the sovereign Filipino people will be watching,” the lead prosecutor added.Luistro also believes voting on the impeachment by senator-judges should be done in person.“They should be present to have a correct appreciation of all the evidence to be presented. And that is including the exercise of his or her right to vote,” she said.Of the 11 House impeachment prosecutors, only Flores of Bukidnon&#x27;s 2nd District did not vote in favor of Duterte’s impeachment.He explained he has personal and political reasons for abstaining.“There are a lot of people in Mindanao who are actually for the Vice President.  I’m taking on the role, because not only was I elected, but because I also saw what was presented before the Committee on Justice. I could not in good conscience vote against the articles of impeachment,” Flores said.His fellow House prosecutor from Mindanao, Suan, meanwhile, defended his decision to be part of the prosecution panel for Duterte’s impeachment trial.While de Lima asserted she is not seeking a vendetta against Duterte but only doing her job as a House member.“Hindi ko po style ‘yan. Hindi po ako ‘yung nag-exhibit ng vendetta. Para sa akin lang po, nakatingin lang po ako lagi sa prinsipyo ng katotohanan at pananagutan,” de Lima said. “Accountability does not respect regional bias,” Suan added.Asked about the challenges they foresee, a prosecutor gave this response.“One of the biggest challenges that we face is fake news, trolls na mali ang ikinakalat na balita, maling ebidensya ang ibinabarena sa utak ng ating mga kababayan,” Defensor said.But members of the House prosecution are unfazed by the possible effect of their role on their plans for the 2028 polls.“Hindi po kami na tatakot sa susunod na election dahil naniniwala po kami na makikita ng taumbayan ang ebidensya and we believe that the senators themselves will see the evidence and it is now incumbent upon the senators to fulfill their constitutional duties as well,” Zamora said.Apart from Kabataan Party List Representative Renee Co, Lanao del Sur 1st District Representative Zia Alonto Adiong has also been named house trial spokesperson.

Ten of the 11 House prosecutors faced the media together on Tuesday after entering their appearance before the Senate sitting as an impeachment court on Monday for the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Ten of the 11 House prosecutors faced the media together on Tuesday after entering their appearance before the Senate sitting as an impeachment court on Monday for the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Which House prosecutors will handle articles of impeachment against Sara Duterte?

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Which House prosecutors will handle articles of impeachment against Sara Duterte?

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 19, 2026 09:14 PM PHT

Read More:

Sara Duterte

impeachment

prosecutors

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