Sara Duterte impeachment trial Day 13: What to expect

Lawyer Roderick Wamil, a former state auditor of the Commission on Audit-Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO), is set to return to the witness stand for the third consecutive day to continue his testimony in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Wamil, a witness presented by the House prosecution panel, is expected to answer clarificatory questions and interjections of Senator-Judges on Wednesday, the 13th day of the trial.

This is in reference to Article 1 of the articles of impeachment about Duterte’s alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds---P500 million of which was from the Office of the Vice President (OVP), and P112.5 million from the Department of Education (DepEd).

Once Wamil is formally dismissed by the impeachment court, the prosecution will present a new witness---COA-ICFAO state auditor Xylene Del Campo.

But impeachment court spokesperson Regie Tongol said that Campo will be testifying on fewer matters as compared to Wamil, based on the purpose indicated on the pre-trial order and pre-trial brief of the prosecution.

“Mas marami pong ite-testify ito pong si Mr. Wamil kumpara po kay Ms. Xylene Del Campo because the documents that Ms. Del Campo will testify on, mas kaunti po at certification halos po ‘yung kanyang mga i-authenticate na mga dokumento,” Tongol explained in a press conference on Tuesday.

(Mr. Wamil will testify more than Ms. Xylene Del Campo because the documents that she will testify on are fewer and she will mostly authenticate certifications.)

He also noted that Del Campo has been qualified as a reserve witness by the House prosecution panel.

“Ang nakalagay lamang po tungkol sa mga witnesses on both parties, they have a general reservation of these witnesses. As to how many of them, hindi po natin alam kung ilan,” Tongol said.

(Both parties have a general reservation of these witnesses. We don’t have any idea as to how many reserve witnesses each side will present.) —LDF, GMA News