House prosecutors assigned to specific grounds in Sara Duterte impeach trial

The 11-member House prosecution panel is all set to present its grounds in impeaching Vice President Sara Duterte as the Senate is scheduled to convene as an impeachment court on Monday next week, Bicol Saro party-list Representative Terry Ridon said Saturday.

"Naghahanda na po 'yun pong [House] prosecution panel (The House prosecution panel is already preparing)," Ridon said at a news forum in Quezon City.

The lawmaker—a member of the House prosecution panel—said the prosecutors have already assigned specific impeachment grounds to each of the panel's members.

"So may paghahati na po ng ilan sa mga grounds… on threats, unexplained wealth, bribery, and confidential funds misuse," Ridon said.

(So there is a division of several grounds for impeachment... on threats, unexplained wealth, bribery, and confidential funds misuse.)

Aside from Ridon, other members of the House prosecution panel include:

• Rep. Gerville Luistro of Batangas
• 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

Asked what specific impeachment grounds were assigned to each of the panel's members, Ridon said that "this will be revealed next week."

"But, I can only speak for myself. Ang aking impeachment ground na ipe-present ay patungkol po sa unexplained wealth and confidential funds misuse," he said.

(But, I can only speak for myself. My impeachment ground is on unexplained wealth and confidential funds misuse.)

He also explained that since there are 11 prosecutors in the panel, "I think all of us ay mayroong at least dalawang grounds na ipe-present (I think all of us have at least two grounds to present.)"

"Ang inaasahan sa House prosecution panel kahit hindi sila assigned sa specific grounds na ito they will still be able to prosecute and present the evidence on other grounds na hindi sila assigned. Kasi karamihan din naman ng House prosecution panel ay bahagi din ng House justice committee," Ridon said.

(What's expected from the members of the House prosecution panel is that they will still be able to prosecute and present the evidence even on other grounds that not assigned to them. Most of the members of the House prosecution panel are part of the House justice committee.)

"Ang expectation natin kaya nilang ilatag sa Senado whichever ground that will be asked of them," he added.

(The expectation is that they can discuss in the Senate whichever ground will be asked of them.)

The Articles of Impeachment were transmitted to the Senate by the House on Wednesday night, two days after 257 House members voted to impeach the Vice President.

This number is more than double the constitutionally required one-third (106) of all House members for the Articles of Impeachment to be sent to the Senate so the impeachment trial can start "forthwith."

The Articles of Impeachment accuse Duterte of alleged culpable violation of the 1987 Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, bribery and other high crimes, based on the following acts:

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

f) contracting the assassination of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former speaker and Leyte 1st District Representative Martin Romualdez by allegedly making grave threats and by actively inciting sedition against the Republic.

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

The House prosecution panel is preparing for the impeachment trial and is in the process of finalizing which Article of Impeachment is assigned to which prosecutor, as well as selecting volunteer private lawyers. — VDV, GMA News