Prosecution drops 3 articles, retains Article II in Sara Duterte impeachment trial

The House prosecution panel on Tuesday dropped three out of the four Articles of Impeachment leveled against Vice President Sara Duterte, saying its case will stand on Article II alone on alleged unexplained wealth due to non-full declaration of assets and non-divestment of business.

“It (prosecution) will no longer pursue three of them. It will only stand on one: Article II of unexplained wealth. [This is due to] our decision to focus on what is necessary,” House lead prosecutor Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville Luistro said.

“We believe we have presented sufficient evidence that warrants the removal from office for culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust,” Luistro added.

The prosecution dropped Article I on confidential funds, Article III on bribery, and Article IV on assassination plot, grave threats and inciting to sedition against the President after a week of testimonies from the Anti-Money Laundering Council, bank and insurance firm officials, as well as lawyer and accountant Alexander Cabrera ultimately concluding that the Vice President and her husband accumulated unexplained wealth worth P817 million at the least and P1.5 billion at the most.

Luistro said that with the prosecution yet to make its formal offer of documentary evidence, reducing the Articles of Impeachment will allow the everybody to focus on what is necessary, if not practical.

The prosecution presented three witnesses for the Article on threats, 11 witnesses for the Article on confidential fund misuse and 11 witnesses for the unexplained wealth.

The prosecution earlier submitted a manifestation that it will withdraw the impeachment Article on bribery in the Department of Education during the Vice President’s tenure as Education chief.

“Had we proceeded on all four articles, the impeachment court would have had to consider the evidence offered for each, together with the corresponding objections and arguments. By focusing on one article, the matters requiring the impeachment court's consideration are correspondingly narrow with practical benefits for the Senate, the respondent, and even the public,” Luistro said.

Luistro recalled that public prosecutors also dropped five out of the eight Articles of Impeachment against then Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012 on the ground that the prosecution already presented enough evidence for the removal of the Chief Justice.

“We respectfully submit this manifestation to the Honorable Impeachment Court for its consideration and appropriate action. This manifestation is made in that same spirit [during the Corona trial] to exercise the prosecution's judgment on which charges to pursue, as well as to safeguard the interests of the nation against betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution,” Luistro said.

The defense team reacts

Defense lead counsel Sheila Sison on Tuesday said the prosecution’s decision to drop three of the four Articles of Impeachment against Duterte would not affect the defense panel’s presentation of its own evidence.

“We respect the decision of the prosecution. However, whether this will affect how the defense plans to proceed with its presentation of evidence is something that we must make clear: It will not,” Sison said.

“Because the prosecution cannot make decisions for the respondent and the defense. In other words, the prosecution cannot be allowed to have the benefit of its accusations without bearing the burden of having those accusations tested,” she added.

The House of Representatives impeached Duterte last May 2026 on allegations of culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, bribery, and other high crimes.

The Senate impeachment court began the trial on July 6. —KG, GMA News