Eighteen senators are present as Day 4 of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial opens at the Senate. Sen. JV Ejercito led the opening prayer, while Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero presides over the impeachment court. COURTESY: Screen grab from Senate of the Philippines.
The Senate impeachment court will begin hearing allegations involving Vice President Sara Duterte’s use of Php 612.5 million in confidential funds on Wednesday after a two-day pause in the trial.
The proceedings, now on their 10th day, will shift to Article I of the impeachment complaint.
House prosecutors are expected to present two former LandBank branch managers as their first witnesses on transactions involving the Office of the Vice President.
Violeta Constantino, former manager of the bank’s Shaw Boulevard branch, is set to testify on four alleged withdrawals totaling Php 125 million from December 2022 to September 2023.
Nenita Camposano, who previously managed LandBank’s Department of Education branch, is expected to discuss three alleged withdrawals of Php 32.5 million each in 2023.
Their testimony was postponed the previous week to accommodate another witness, oral arguments and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address.
Prosecutors later asked the court to allow the prosecution and defense to present evidence alternately for each impeachment article instead of requiring the prosecution to finish its entire case first.
Impeachment court spokesperson Reginald Tongol said the defense opposed the proposed arrangement and that the trial would proceed as scheduled with Article I.