Duterte impeachment: Senators hope to hear defense on dropped articles

MANILA, Philippines — Some senator-judges on Wednesday expressed hope that Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense team would still be allowed to present its case on impeachment Articles I and IV, which concern her alleged misuse of confidential funds and grave threats.

On Tuesday, the prosecution said it would no longer pursue the two articles, along with Article III, which concerns Duterte’s alleged bribery of Department of Education officials.

The Senate Impeachment Court allowed the withdrawal, preventing the defense from making its presentation on the dropped articles.

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Unlike Article III, however, the prosecution had already presented witnesses and exhibits for Articles I and IV, including a video showing Duterte saying she would have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assassinated and acknowledgment receipts signed by questionable personalities such as “Mary Grace Piattos.”

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In an interview, Senator-judge Joel Villanueva said Duterte should be allowed to respond in the interest of “fairness.”

READ: Impeachment court approves prosec’s move to drop 3 of 4 charges vs VP

“I think she deserves to be heard, too… I want to hear them, even though they have already been withdrawn,” he added.

Villanueva also said the sudden withdrawal of the charges felt “off” given the prosecution’s efforts.

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“I don’t wanna use the word unfair, but as a senator-judge, I would say it’s off, for me. Why would you spend so much time in the House and come up with these articles of impeachment, presented it here, blah blah blah, then all of a sudden…” he explained.

Before finishing his thought, Villanueva clarified that he was not against the prosecution’s decision.

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“But you cannot blame them. You cannot blame the prosecution because that is their strategy. I respect that,” he said.

He also lamented the withdrawal, noting that the Senate had already spent time handling both the impeachment trial and its legislative work.

Sen. JV Ejercito, who heads the Senate finance panel overseeing budget deliberations, echoed Villanueva’s sentiments, saying the time spent on the dropped articles could have been devoted to the budget process.

“Honestly, it was a waste of three months because we could have finished the budget hearings instead, since we were in a hurry. I guess we could have scrutinized things more and held more productive budget hearings if we had had more time,” Ejercito said in a press briefing.

He also admitted that he would have wanted to hear Duterte’s defense on the dropped charges.

“To me, ideally, both sides should be heard. The defense, the respondent, should be given due process… Of course, if the other side was able to present its case, both sides should be heard… The respondent’s side should be given enough time to be heard,” he said.

READ: Sison hits prosec: Why withdraw case after presenting evidence vs Duterte?

However, Ejercito maintained that he trusted the ruling of the Presiding Officer Francis Escudero.

Senator-judge Christopher “Bong” Go, a known ally of the Duterte family, also shared his sentiments on the matter.

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“As a senator-judge, we want to see a fair and equal fight… In every fight, it feels better when you work hard and sweat for it,” Go told the media. /mcm