The private prosecutors participating in the ongoing impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte are doing their work “pro bono” contrary to the belief that they are being paid with government funds, a trial spokesperson said.

House trial spokesperson and former congressman Robert Ace Barbers explained that the numerous lawyers who were part of the proceedings had volunteered as a form of public service to the country.

“You know, our private prosecutors, they are volunteers, they are doing it pro bono. That’s why their slogan is ‘Para sa Bayan,’” Barbers said.

Before the start of the impeachment, a total of 15 lawyers were selected by the House of Representatives to make up the group of private prosecutors that were tasked with aiding the 11 lawmakers that form the House prosecution panel.

The 11 representatives that were selected by House leadership were also lawyers in their own regards.

More than a month into the trial, private prosecutors such as Atty. Lorna Kapunan, Atty. Armando Virgil Ligutan, and Atty. Mae Divinagracia have been visibly involved in the trial as counsels that directly examined witnesses for the first two Articles of Impeachment.

House lead prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro had mentioned in previous briefings that not all private prosecutors would be tasked with examining witnesses, as some were given the role of assisting in the preparation process for evidence presentation.

Barbers, for his part, lauded the performance of the lawyers, particularly naming Divinagracia, who was concerned with the direct examination of Office of the Vice President Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio–prosecutors' second hostile witness.

“We appreciate the fact that these brilliant lawyers like Atty. Divinagracia, she’s great at the presentation of evidence and direct examination of a witness,” he said.

Given the weight of the constitutional process to the country, the former solon revealed that there was an influx of lawyers that sought to participate in the trial.

Despite the interest, however, Barbers said that the House decided to place a cap on the number of litigators it added to its roster.

“As far as the private prosecutors are concerned, we limited it because there were many lawyers that wanted to volunteer but we could not get a lot,” he explained.

Notably, neither the Constitution nor the Senate Rules of Impeachment provide restrictions on the number of private prosecutors that can participate in the trial but it does offer limits on their functions.

Such prohibitions mainly revolve around discretion, stating that it is a public prosecutor who has absolute control on how the prosecution handles the case.

As for the current setup of the prosecution panel against Duterte, Barbers said that the work was divided among all the lawyers.

“These are four articles and we divided it between the 11 public prosecutors and the 15 private prosecutors. All of it is pro bono,” he said.

The prosecution panel is set to proceed with their presentation of evidence for Article I of the impeachment on Tuesday, 1 September, concerned with the alleged misuse of confidential funds of the Vice President.

Among the personalities set to take the witness stand this coming week is former Department of Education undersecretary and defense lawyer Atty. Michael Poa.

Poa had previously appeared in the impeachment process as a resource person during the hearings of the House Committee on Justice earlier in the year.