With the impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte well underway, members of the House prosecution panel said that their team has remained “hopeful” that senator-judges participating in the constitutional process would be impartial.

Speaking during a press briefing prior to the resumption of the impeachment proceedings on Monday, 20 July, private prosecutor Atty. Jay Tolosa expressed that their expectation was that senators would practice “political neutrality” in the conduct of their responsibility in the hearings.

“We remain hopeful that all senator-judges would comply with their obligation under the rules of impeachment to observe political neutrality which means that they should participate in these proceedings without any undue discrimination towards anyone regardless of their political preferences and affiliations,” Tolosa explained.

For the lawyer, part of practicing that neutrality was deciding on pressing matters in the trial by taking careful consideration of the evidence that both the prosecution and the defense would present.

On Monday, various civic groups staged protests outside the Senate compound calling for the solons to vote in favor of the full disclosure of the financial records on the joint accounts of Duterte and her husband Atty. Manases “Mans” Carpio.

The call stemmed from the previous oral arguments wherein impeachment court presiding judge Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero deferred the decision to issue subpoenas on the tax records, bank records, and reports from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

The defense and some senators alike expressed their respective concerns over the said issuance, citing that the same would violate laws intended to prevent the unlawful disclosure of financial information.

However, for House prosecution spokesperson Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong the outcry of the public was clear–for the documents to be presented in the trial.

Adiong underscored that the protests of civic groups were a clear indication that the public were carefully monitoring the proceedings and watching every action that both parties and the senator-judges were carrying out in the process.

“I think the ultimate message that we are showing in our situation on why there has been clamor and engagement from the public is that this is a sui generis, legal and political, because our senators, the Senate, is a political office,” the solon said.

“We are seeing that the public are routinely monitoring and evaluating the impeachment,” he added.

Asked directly whether he believed that any particular senator-judge was showing bias during the process, Adiong explained that it was difficult to read the minds of the senators.

The lawmaker maintained that the prosecutors’ focus was not on whether the judges were impartial or not, rather they were solely concerned with presenting all of their evidence to provide the latter with complete information to reach a “sound judgement.”

“The House prosecution panel continues to present evidence and testimony of the witnesses for the senator-judges to have sufficient information or sufficient reason for them to arrive at a sound judgement,” he said.

“As to how they carry themselves in the court, it is their job to ask questions from both the defense and prosecution,” he noted.

The Senate is set to decide on the matter of the issuance of subpoenas this Monday after a short time would be afforded to the senator-judges to question the arguments of the prosecution and the defense on the matter.