Sara camp hits prosecution, says it failed to prove its case
Vice President Sara Duterte’s camp on Saturday challenged House prosecutors to prove their allegations in the impeachment court rather than through media interviews, as the defense prepares to take the floor on Monday.
In a statement, Duterte’s spokesperson Salvador Paolo A. Panelo Jr. accused private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan and her colleagues of disregarding due process and attempting to sway public opinion through their public briefings and media appearances.
“The prosecution had its chance. It failed. On Monday, the Vice President begins her defense,” Panelo said.
“One world seeks the truth. The other desperately tries to persuade an increasingly skeptical public with asinine sound bites built on half-truths and malicious speculation,” he added.
Kapunan earlier questioned the defense’s ability to counter the prosecution’s findings of at least P817.87 million in alleged unexplained wealth and undeclared assets involving Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, from 2022 to 2025.
Kapunan said the defense’s initial list of 24 witnesses did not include anyone who could explain the financial discrepancies identified by the prosecution’s forensic accounting expert, Alexander Cabrera.
“We were confused with the 24 witnesses that the defense listed. Because the things that I said should be answered by the Vice President, they would not be able to answer,” Kapunan said in a press briefing.
“That should have been the purpose of their bank officials. To say that the balance that was shown was incorrect, not simply to say that we sent a letter that was left unanswered,” the veteran litigator added.
Article II accuses Duterte of amassing unexplained wealth, failing to fully disclose her assets and violating the constitutional prohibition against holding business interests while in office. It is the only remaining impeachment charge after the prosecution withdrew three other articles.
On Friday, the impeachment court admitted Duterte’s SALNs, bank records, tax documents, corporate filings and property records as evidence for the remaining Article II charge.
The defense had challenged the relevance and admissibility of several documents, including financial records involving Carpio, describing the prosecution’s evidence-gathering as a “fishing expedition.”
Duterte's camp is scheduled to begin presenting its witnesses and evidence when the impeachment court resumes proceedings at 10 a.m. on Monday, 9 November.