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The pretrial order is silent on the controversial issues, while fully adopting the list of witnesses for both the prosecution and the defense.
MANILA, Philippines – The pre-trial order for the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte has been granted.
Here is the document, a copy of which was obtained by Rappler from two reliable sources, it contains.
Test dates
It’s official: the trial will begin on July 6 at 2 p.m., and will run from Monday to Wednesday until July 27.
From July 28, the trial will start from Tuesday to Thursday at 3 pm.
The prosecution will have 62 trial dates, divided as follows in chronological order:
- Filing of impeachment on Duterte’s apparent threats to the life of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr: 11 trial dates
- Filing of articles of indictment on cryptocurrency abuse: 31 trial dates
- Submission of articles of indictment on bribery: 8 trial dates
- Filing of charge sheet on unexplained wealth: 12 trial dates
“The above order of deposition shall be maintained unless modified by the prosecution through disclosure and subject to the approval of the Trial Court,” read the preliminary order of the case, a copy of which was obtained by Rappler.
Martyrs
The Clerk of the Senate passed the list of witnesses for the prosecution and the defense, without deleting any names.
The prosecution has 57 witnesses, while the defense has 96 witnesses.
Common witnesses include:
- A person who allegedly has Dutete Ramil Madriaga’s bag
- Director of the House of Representatives Archives Service and House of Representatives Museum Management Marivic Pareja
- Head of the National Bureau of Investigation Melvin Matibag
- Caroline Moldez-Pitoy, questioned the head of the NBI’s document division
- Assistant National Statistician Marizza Grande
- Government Auditor Gloria Camora
- Former Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management Amenah Pangandaman
- Ombudsman Boying Remulla
- Executive Director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council Ronel Buenaventura
- Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV
- Securities and Exchange Commission Director Gerardo del Rosario
- Former Under Secretary of the Department of Education Gloria Jumamil-Mercado
- NBI cyber crime investigation unit agent John Mark Calilung
- NBI chief agent Jeremy Lotoc
- Representatives from the Audit Commission
- Representatives from the Land Transport Office
- Representatives from the Public Service Commission
Other notable names on the prosecution’s witness list have been spared, such as sheriff Abe Andres who Duterte punched when he was mayor, The famous Mary Grace Piattosa signatory in one of the secret fund receipts of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
“The examination of the witnesses shall be conducted in open court, unless otherwise ordered by the Court of Appeal,” read the order.
“The testimony of the witness shall be completed on the scheduled hearing date allotted to the witness under the one-day examination of the witness rule. The court however has discretion to extend the time for direct examination and/or cross-examination of witnesses for good cause shown,” it added.
Pointing to evidence
The pretrial order also indicated that the court clerk could still schedule additional dates for marking evidence.
Other things
- Both English and Filipino languages will be used in the test.
- The prosecution is ordered to reveal by July 3 the names of its witnesses for July 6, in accordance with the principle of revealing witnesses three days before they are presented before the prosecution court.
What the pre-trial order did not say
The pre-trial order, signed by the presiding officer of the prosecution and judge-senator Win Gatchalian, is silent on the following points on which the prosecution and defense cannot agree:
- how the box of the Bureau of Internal Revenue containing Duterte’s tax records will be opened
- whether private prosecutors are allowed to cross-examine witnesses
– Rappler.com
