House prosecution names human rights lawyer as spokesperson in VP Sara trial

The House of Representatives prosecution panel has appointed former human rights and public interest lawyer Antonio Audie Bucoy as its spokesperson for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Bucoy, who has been a litigation lawyer for 41 years, earned his law degree from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1984.

But even before becoming a lawyer, Bucoy was already a part of the Free Legal Assistance Group since 1980 and Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity, and Nationalism, Inc. (Mabini), which are associations of human rights and public interest lawyers.

He also had stints as a corporate and remedial law professor and a managing partner of Bucoy Poblador and Associates Law Offices specializing in corporate and tax, trial, and appellate litigation.

“I have been a part of FLAG when I was still in the UP College of Law as a student, during the time of Jose Diokno, Joker Arroyo, Lorenzo Tañada. We served as field investigators of FLAG, to address the needs of victims of human rights abuses,” Bucoy said in a press conference.

“We worked with labor groups, farmers, industrial farmers. I also handled human rights cases when I became a lawyer and as part of Mabini. Now, I'm still a litigator and intellectual property is one of our fields of practice,” he added.

Going forward, Bucoy assured the public that the prosecution panel will not cause delay in the trial, adding the search for truth is of greatest importance.

“The prosecution won't give any reason to delay the trial. May tinatagong katiwalian, may tinatagong kamalian. Sa usaping patungkol sa proseso, walang higit na mahalaga kundi ang suyurin at hanapin ang katotohanan,” Bucoy said.

(There are wrongful deeds being hidden here. In this process, nothing is more important than the search for truth.)

“The desire to know the truth becomes even more palpable, more compelling, the longer that you delay or suppress it. Kaya magmatyag po tayo (Let’s stay vigilant),” he added. —AOL, GMA Integrated News