Prosecutors defer presentation of second witness

The House Prosecution team has moved to postpone the presentation of its second witness in the impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte for Monday, 13 July, for the article of impeachment concerning the grave threats of the latter to high ranking officials.

The development came after the camp of Duterte finished its cross examination of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) senior agent John Mark Calilung that brought evidence where the numerous videos containing the utterances of Duterte were contained.

Prior to the conclusion of the third day of the trial, it was anticipated that NBI official Atty. Jeremy Lotoc would be called to the witness stand after both parties were satisfied with their respective assessments of Calilung.

However, it would be House private prosecutor Atty. Armando Virgil Ligutan informed the court of the team’s decision to push back on the testimony of Lotoc.

House Public Prosecutor Rep. Ysabel Zamora explained that the decision was ultimately made as part of the strategy of their group, believing that the defense was not able to necessarily “break” the credibility of their first witness.

“It is really a matter of the prosecution’s and the threat’s team strategy to have Atty. Lotoc on Monday after all it is nearing night time and we don’t want to waste everyone’s time until tonight,” Zamora said in a press conference after the trial.

“Of course when it gets started, it will proceed late into the night,” she added.

Next witnesses for the prosecution

As part of its upcoming list of witnesses to deliver testimonies when the trial resumes on Monday, 13 July, House Public Prosecutor Rep. Lorenz Defensor said that they were going to be calling Lotoc, Office of the Vice President (OVP) Chief of Staff Atty. Zuleika Lopez, and House of Representatives Sergeant-At-Arms officer Captain Belinda Bello.

Similar to Calilung, all three individuals are also to present key testimonies related to the article on verbal threats of the Vice President.

It was Lotoc that had confirmed that Duterte had in fact contacted an assassin to carry out her supposed “conditional threat” against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Lopez, on the other hand, was one of the individuals in the infamous 23 November 2024 press conference where the Vice President uttered her seditious remarks.

Notably, her sentiments were also presented during the cross examination of the defense as it sought to justify the threats of their client.

The Senate also confirmed that subpoenas were already issued for the said witnesses.