Win dismisses Alan’s allegations on VP impeachment trial

Senate President Win Gatchalian and Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano (Courtesy: Senate of the Philippines/Alan Peter Cayetano)

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian on Friday dismissed allegations by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano that the Senate majority was seeking control of the chamber’s leadership to influence Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial and cover up issues surrounding the flood control program, as preparations for the trial continued to move forward.

In a Facebook Live broadcast on Thursday, Cayetano claimed the Senate majority wanted the impeachment proceedings to proceed continuously so it could dictate the pace of the trial through the presiding officer.

“You want the impeachment to proceed continuously, and your intention is for your group to dictate the pace through the presiding officer… the impeachment is only the second priority; the primary concern is the cover-up regarding the flood control issue,” Cayetano said.

Gatchalian rejected the accusation, saying the outcome of the impeachment trial would depend on the evidence presented by both sides and the judgment of the senator-judges.

“The outcome will depend on the evidence presented by both the prosecution and the defense. This will influence the senator-judges. It is not about changing leadership or altering the majority or minority,” Gatchalian said in an interview with DZMM Teleradyo.

The Senate impeachment court began its first pre-trial conference on June 18 and is scheduled to resume on June 22, with the trial proper set to begin on July 6.

Lead House prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro said the impeachment trial remains on track after both parties started marking documentary exhibits related to the Articles of Impeachment.

“What became clear yesterday is that the trial will officially begin on July 6, and it will proceed continuously from there,” Luistro said.

“Hence we would like to commend the impeachment court, the prosecution team and even the defense team for taking a stance toward expeditious proceedings for this pre-trial so we can start by July 6 because after all, this is something the Filipino people have long been waiting for,” she added.

Luistro said the prosecution hopes to complete the marking of exhibits when the pre-trial conference resumes on Monday.

“So just to provide an update, we started marking the exhibits yesterday, and hopefully we can finish by this coming Monday. We are hoping to complete it on Monday because there are four articles of impeachment that have been filed,” she said.

“The documentary exhibits differ for each article. The two that are longer and involve more documents have been scheduled for Monday,” Luistro added.

The prosecution has previously described the impeachment articles involving public funds and unexplained wealth as among the most document-intensive aspects of the case.

Luistro said both parties would still get the chance to comment on the pre-trial order if any matter discussed during the conference was omitted, misstated or required further clarification.

The House prosecution panel has identified more than 30 possible witnesses, while Duterte’s defense team has also submitted its list of witnesses and documentary evidence.

She said the remaining tasks before the trial starts are completing exhibit marking and issuing the pre-trial order that will govern the proceedings.

Gatchalian said he had reviewed the 60-page pre-trial briefs submitted by both the prosecution and defense.

He noted that the pre-trial conference serves as the first formal meeting of both sides before senator-judges convene as an impeachment court to hear the case.

Ahead of the July 6 proceedings, the Senate also held an interagency meeting attended by representatives of government agencies, law enforcement bodies and intelligence units to coordinate security measures for the impeachment trial. — Joel E. Zurbano & Maricel V. Cruz