Mayor Duterte Subpoena Reset As VP Trial Calendar Tightens

Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte’s appearance was moved to next week after unfinished SEC testimony and threshold arguments tightened the impeachment court calendar.

Mayor Duterte Subpoena Reset As VP Trial Calendar Tightens

By Republic Magazine
13
By Republic Magazine
13

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The unfinished testimony on Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s corporate records and Wednesday’s oral arguments on the impeachment conviction threshold forced the Senate impeachment court to rearrange its witness calendar, pushing Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte’s appearance to next week.

Presiding officer Francis Escudero on Monday recalled the subpoena directing Duterte to appear on Sept. 23 and instead ordered new subpoenas covering three prosecution witnesses for Sept. 28 to 30.

“Given that we failed to finish or we did not finish (the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] witness) today and cross will be continued tomorrow . . . and given as well that we will be having oral arguments on Wednesday, the Chair recalls the subpoena issued to Mayor Sebastian Duterte on Sept. 23,” Escudero said.

The Sept. 23 proceedings have been reserved for oral arguments on the disputed number of votes required to convict the Vice President.

Before the reset, House of Representatives prosecutor Terry Ridon asked that the prosecution’s three remaining witnesses be moved to the following week.

Escudero, however, required the panel to settle the sequence immediately so the court could issue the necessary subpoenas.

“Can you make the manifestation by tomorrow (Tuesday) so that we can issue the subpoenas also by tomorrow?” Escudero asked.

Ridon opted to place the lineup on record at once.

“’Yung pong pagkakasunod-sunod ay (The sequence is) Davao City Mayor, Honorable Sebastian Z. Duterte. Ikalawa (second), PhilHealth Regional Office 11… At ikatlo po (and third), PNP Firearms and Explosives Office,” Ridon said, referring to the records from Philippine Health Insurance Corp.’s Davao regional office and the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office as part of the presentation under Article II of the impeachment complaint.

He clarified that the subpoenas would cover not only testimony but also documents, setting up another records-heavy phase after the prosecution’s presentation of corporate filings linked to the Vice President.

Meanwhile, cross-examination of the prosecution’s SEC witness will resume Tuesday.

The prosecution has been using SEC records to examine Duterte’s declared business interests and corporate links. (PNA)