House prosecutors may drop bribery article in VP Sara impeachment, target decision by year-end —Rep. Chua

The House prosecution panel is considering dropping the bribery charge under Article III of the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte as it focuses on what it considers its strongest allegations.

"We are considering the dropping of one article, yes. So for now, pinag-aaralan namin kung we will proceed na after next week sa unexplained (wealth). Although wala pa talagang final (decision). Pero isa 'yan sa mga kino-consider namin," House prosecution spokesperson Joel Chua told GMA News.

(So for now, we are studying if we will proceed to unexplained [wealth] after next week. Although there is no final [decision yet]. But that is one of the things we are considering.)

He was referring to the impeachment Article which alleges that the Vice President must be impeached for committing bribery by giving monetary gifts or payments to Department of Education (DepEd) officials to induce the violation and circumvention of procurement and other related laws.

"Well unang-una, 'yung first two articles na sinampa namin ay matibay na. Naniniwala kami na matibay na," he said.

(Well first of all, the first two articles we presented are already strong. We believe those are strong.)

"Pero hindi naman pupuwedeng i-drop 'yung unexplained (wealth) dahil lahat inaabangan na ito, 'di ba?" Chua said.

(But we cannot drop the unexplained [wealth] because that's what people are waiting for, right?)

In a separate interview on Thursday, lead impeachment prosecutor Representative Gerville Luistro said the prosecution team is discussing ways to expedite the impeachment proceedings.

“The many discussions that the impeachment team is holding, as a matter of fact, hindi lang yung [not just the] concern about whether to present or not the article on bribery. Even the list of witnesses in the remaining articles are being re-evaluated,” she told reporters in an ambush interview today.

Luistro, however, said they have not reached a final decision whether or not to forgo the presentation of evidence for the article on bribery.

“So, concerning that article on bribery, I can only confirm that's part of our discussions. But no official stand yet kung ida-drop ba o hindi [whether to drop it or not],” she said.

When asked what factors the prosecution team will consider in arriving at a decision, Luistro replied, “Well, tinitingnan din natin yung nauna nating nai-present, kung satisfied ba tayo, na-establish ba yung mga facts which we want to be established. Ganundin yung importance noong articles.”

(We are looking at what we presented first, if we are satisfied with it, if we have established the facts which we want to be established. And the importance of the articles.)

Luistro emphasized that all four Articles of Impeachment are “equally strong.”

“So lahat sila ay malakas, lahat sila ay strong, but we have this confidential fund already na pertaining to both the OVP and the DepEd. Siguro we focus on something else,” she said.

Articles of Impeachment

The prosecution has presented evidence for the following Articles so far:

- Article 4 which alleges that the Vice President committed an impeachable offense by contracting for the assassination of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and former speaker of the House and incumbent Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez, by making grave threats, and by actively inciting sedition against the republic, and

- Article 1 which alleges that the Vice President committed an impeachable offense due to 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 DepEd during her tenure as Education chief.

The prosecution is expected to present evidence for Article 2 which argues that the Vice President must be impeached due to:

- amassing unexplained wealth manifestly disproportionate to her lawful income and earnings during her incumbency as a public official;
- failure to fully and truthfully disclose all her and her spouse's assets, liabilities, and net worth in her statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) including in her SALN for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024; and
- 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.

Timetable

Chua added that prosecutors expect to finish presenting evidence on the confidential funds issue next week, with one or two more witnesses still under consideration.

The prosecution targets completing its entire presentation by the first half of October. It is also aiming for the defense to finish its case by November, potentially allowing the Senate impeachment court to issue a decision before the end of the year.

"So... and we do not want it protracted, the hearing. Siyempre, ayaw naman namin na abutin tayo until next year. May mga target din kami. So hopefully by end of November, tapos na pati defense. So kung matatapos kami (sa prosecution) ng first week ng October, or mid ng October, makakapagsimula na ang defense. So they have until November," Chua said.

(Of course, we do not want this to continue until next year. We also have targets. So hopefully by end of November, the defense will be done. So if we [the prosecution panel] finish in the first week of October or middle of October, the defense can already start. So they have until November.)

Chua said dropping the bribery article should not be viewed as a sign of weakness, stressing that prosecutors remain intent on pursuing the article on alleged unexplained wealth.

“It does not speak of the weakness. Pero kung makikita ninyo, wala namang impeachment na pinahaba eh. If you will remember the Corona impeachment trial, they dropped more Articles there,” Chua said.

(If you will see it, there is no impeachment trial that is intentionally prolonged ever.)

He was referring to the 2012 impeachment of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona wherein the prosecution dropped five out of the eight Articles of Impeachment after presenting evidence on three Articles.

“In our view, we are able to present airtight evidence so far,” Chua added.

Likewise, Chua said that the filing of candidacy for the 2028 polls set in October 2027 is also a factor in reducing the numbers of the Articles of Impeachment.

“The filing of candidacy is already next year, so we want this impeachment done by this time. And if the impeachment court will extend hours, it will speed up the process,” Chua said. —With reports from Llanesca T. Panti and Tina Panganiban-Perez/KG/BM, GMA News