Try
The Oct. 13 withdrawal left the Senate impeachment court to decide only whether Duterte amassed unexplained wealth, inaccurately declared her assets and failed to divest herself of business interests.
David San Juan: The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte is important because it shows continued vigilance over the process… and answers the questions of citizens still undecided on the VP’s guilt or innocence on the charges.
The next test will be whether prosecutors can demonstrate how the figures were calculated, establish which assets legally belonged to Duterte, and show that any omissions or discrepancies violated disclosure or other laws.
The week’s most prominent witness was Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, who was subjected to searching questions by prosecution counsel Theodore “Ted” Te over 19 city government contracts worth about P33.2 million awarded to GenCorp Industries Inc., a company his sister had declared as a business interest in her SALNs.
On day 29, Sept. 23, after oral arguments from the prosecution and defense, the impeachment court voted 13-1 to reverse Presiding Officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero’s July 6 ruling that 16 votes—two-thirds of the 24-member Senate—were required to convict Duterte.
On Thursday, the court named retired chief justices Artemio Panganiban, Reynato Puno and Hilario G. Davide Jr., and retired associate justice Adolfo Azcuna as amici curiae, or friends of the court, to advise it on whether the 16-vote requirement should be changed in light of the nonparticipation of four senator-judges.
The ninth week of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial ended with an important question still hanging over the prosecution’s case: Where did the P15.54 million in the Department of Education’s confidential funds go, and who is responsible for claiming that the money paid for activities that the Philippine Army said it funded itself?
COMMENTARY: However, there is a method to the madness of Padilla’s statements. They collectively serve to obfuscate the issue that he wishes to target and that coupled with the DDS machinery produces propaganda that keeps their following convinced of the so- called righteousness of their cause.
Over three days —the 17th, 18th and 19th days of the trial — the testimony from two ranking officials of the Office of the Vice President pointed to Duterte and her former security chief, Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, as the two people with the clearest knowledge of how the funds were handled and spent.
Acosta’s testimony thus left the court with two competing questions: Duterte’s alleged authority to order the release of the money, and whether the person who received and supposedly implemented the confidential activities had the authority to handle the funds.
