Sara Duterte impeachment trial Day 16: What to expect

The House prosecution panel is expected to present an official from the House of Representatives this Monday, August 17 to testify on the alleged misuse of Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential funds.

Last week, the Senate impeachment court issued anew a subpoena for House of Representatives Legislative Information Resources Management Department director Marivic Pareja as well as two former disbursing officers of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).

Following Pareja, former OVP SDO Gina Acosta and ex-DepEd SDO Edward Fajarda are expected to testify.

The Senate also issued a subpoena for OVP Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio.

This is in relation to the Article 1 of the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte which alleged her misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds—P500 million from the OVP, and P112.5 million from the DepEd.

Aside from this, Presiding Judge Francis “Chiz” Escudero is expected to make a ruling or order regarding the statements the parties make on social media.

To recall, last week, Duterte’s lead counsel Sheila Sison condemned a social media post made by private prosecutor Armando Ligutan regarding misleading questions while the impeachment trial was ongoing.

In an ambush interview, Ligutan said that his intentions were not malicious.

Escudero said Ligutan will be heard prior to the court’s ruling on the matter. —Joahna Lei Casilao/KG, GMA News