Luistro ‘willing to endorse’ VP Sara impeachment articles to Ombudsman
The House Prosecution Panel is open to endorsing its withdrawn Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte to the Office of the Ombudsman for further investigation, particularly when it comes to allegations of alleged misuse of public funds.
Public prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro affirmed the panel’s position on the matter through a press conference with reporters on Friday, noting that it was going to be consulted with other members of the prosecution.
I think in one of my interviews I was able to articulate that even before that interview of Ombudsman Boying Remulla that if a formal endorsement of all the records…we will be willing to endorse,” Luistro said.
“We will be seeking the position of course of the members of the panel also,” he added.
The lawmaker further stated that they would allow the Ombudsman to have a “free hand” in how they will appreciate the pieces of evidence that were presented during the impeachment trial.
She also noted that she was similarly “interested” and open to coordinating with the Department of Justice when it came to their evidence on Duterte’s alleged grave threats, particularly as a case had already been filed at the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City.
As far as the Ombudsman is concerned, however, Luistro noted that a matter that would also be discussed during her meeting with members of the prosecution panel would be with respect to the timeline for the turnover of records.
The lawmaker would affirm that it was possible that investigations under the Ombudsman would coincide with that of the ongoing impeachment.
“You have to understand that the impeachment is different from the Ombudsman proceeding. Ombudsman proceedings include the criminal aspect of the case,” she explained.
Luistro further noted that the anti-graft body did already have records pertaining to the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) confidential funds as findings taken from the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability were already transmitted since 2024.
“If at all, our endorsement will just be supplemental to the records which the Ombudsman already have,” she said.
The statement of the lead public prosecutor came after Remulla said in a recent press conference that their office was in the process of collating and evaluating evidence pertaining to Duterte’s confidential funds.
He noted that the evaluations would examine whether filing a case against Duterte at the Sandiganbayan was necessary.
It is worth noting that the Commission on Audit had affirmed with finality its disallowance of P73.28-million in confidential funds from the OVP that was utilized in 2022.