House names 11-member prosecution panel for VP Sara Duterte's impeachment trial

The House of Representatives on Tuesday elected an 11-member prosecution team for the expected trial of Vice President Sara Duterte before the Senate once it convenes as an impeachment court.

This was after the House plenary approved the motion put forward by Las Piñas City Rep. Mark Anthony Santos that elected the following House members to the prosecution panel:

• Rep. Gerville Luistro of Batangas
• Rep. Terry Ridon of Bicol Saro party-list
• Rep. Ramon Rodriguez of 1-Rider party-list
• Rep. Ysabel Zamora of San Juan City
• Rep. Lorenz Defensor of Iloilo
• Rep. Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno of Akbayan party-list
• Rep. Leila de Lima of ML party-list
• Rep. Arlene Bag-ao of Dinagat Islands
• Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores of Bukidnon
• Rep. Lordan Suan of Cagayan de Oro and
• Rep. Joel Chua of Manila

Of the 11, six were also elected prosecutors for the impeachment trial of the Vice President in 2025 – Luistro, Rodriguez, Zamora, Defensor, Flores and Chua.

However, the Supreme Court declared last year’s impeachment of Duterte as unconstitutional.

Earlier this week, 257 House members voted to impeach the Vice President over allegations on culpable violation of the 1987 Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, bribery, and other high crimes.

The Articles of Impeachment approved by the House and endorsed to the Senate accused Duterte of the following:

a) systematic misuse, misappropriation, and irregular liquidation of confidential funds amounting to P500 million released to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and P112.5 million released to the Department of Education (DepEd) during her tenure as Education Secretary,

b) amassing unexplained wealth manifestly disproportionate to her lawful income and earnings during her incumbency as a public official,

c) failure to fully and truthfully disclose all her and her spouse’s assets, liabilities, and net worth in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs) for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024,

d) failure to divest, and instead, willfully continued, all her business interests during her tenure as vice president for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025,

e) giving monetary gifts or payments to DepEd officials to induce the violation and circumvention of procurement and other related laws, and

f) contracting the assassination of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and then Speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez by making grave threats and by actively inciting sedition against the Republic.

Items a, e and f constitute Article 1, 3 and 4, while items b, c and d are all subsections of Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment. — JMA, GMA News