Impeachment court okays subpoenas for witnesses in Sara Duterte's confi funds 'misuse'

The Senate impeachment court on Wednesday approved the issuance of subpoenas to four individuals who are set to testify on Vice President Sara Duterte's alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds.

On the sixth day of the trial, Senate impeachment Court Presiding Officer Francis "Chiz" Escudero granted the issuance of subpoenas ad testificandum (ordering a person to testify) and duces tecum (ordering a person to produce documents or other evidence) for the following witnesses, who are scheduled to appear on July 21 and 22:

• Marivic Pareja, director of the House Legislative Archives and Museum Management Service;
• Violeta Constantino, former Land Bank of the Philippines branch manager for the Shaw Boulevard branch; and
• Nenita Camposano, former Land Bank branch manager for the DepEd branch.

The court also approved the issuance of a subpoena duces tecum to Land Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Lynette Ortiz for the same dates.

The subpoenas are related to Article I of the Articles of Impeachment, which concerns the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds—P500 million from the Office of the Vice President and P112.5 million from the Department of Education.

House prosecution panel lead Rep. Gerville Luistro also informed the impeachment court that National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag will testify on Tuesday, July 21, instead of Monday, July 20.

The development came after the senator-judges deferred action on the House prosecution panel's request to subpoena the tax and bank records of Duterte and her husband until Monday.

House prosecutors said Matibag will be the last witness to testify on Article IV of the Articles of Impeachment, which concerns Duterte's alleged grave threats and supposed assassination plot against President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

The prosecution panel earlier dropped five witnesses originally listed for Article IV, saying it already has sufficient evidence to support its case.

With fewer witnesses to present, impeachment court spokesperson Atty. Reginald Tongol said proceedings on Article I could begin earlier than initially scheduled.

"Hindi na natin kailangan gugulin 'yung 11 days para sa Article 4. 'Yung 11 days na 'yun nakatakda 'yun dahil sa 10 testigo nila na nakaplanong ipresenta," Tongol said at a press conference.

(We no longer need to use the full 11 days allotted for Article IV. Those 11 days were scheduled because the prosecution initially planned to present 10 witnesses.)

"So by reducing the number of witnesses, nakabawas din 'yun dahil hindi na natin ini-expect na kailangan pa natin tapusin 'yung 11 days na 'yun. Kaya sinasabi ko, before the end of July, tinatalakay na natin 'yung Article 1," he added.

(By reducing the number of witnesses, the proceedings will also take less time because we no longer expect to use the entire 11 days. That is why I am saying that before the end of July, we should already be tackling Article I.)

Also on Wednesday, the House prosecution panel dropped at least six witnesses lined up to testify on Article 4 of the impeachment complaint, which concerns Duterte's alleged grave threats.

Luistro said the prosecution decided to trim its witness list after determining that the testimony of Matibag would be sufficient to establish its case.

The witnesses who will no longer be presented are:

• a representative of the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office;
• Reuters journalist Mikhail Flores;
• Rappler journalist Bonz Magsambol;
• Sheriff Abe Andres;
• a family member of one of the alleged victims of the threats; and
• a psychiatrist.

"The testimony of Agent Calilung already established that the video is authentic. Plus, considering, Your Honor, the defense's subsequent admission that these are authentic videos, both parties have sufficiently established the circumstances surrounding the statements made by the respondent in the authenticated video," Luistro told the impeachment court.

"Your Honor, this renders Atty. Melvin Matibag, the NBI director, as our last witness on the threat allegation, who will be testifying this coming Tuesday," she added.

Speaking at a separate press conference, Luistro said the prosecution was confident it had already presented enough evidence.

"Malakas na ang kaso. Kumpleto na ang ebidensiya. Lahat ng labis ay masama," she said.

(The case is already strong. The evidence is complete. Too much of anything is bad.)

Iloilo Rep. Lorenz Defensor, another member of the prosecution panel, agreed, saying the case was about the quality—not the quantity—of witnesses.

"Tama na ang timpla. Kapag dinagdagan mo pa ng rekado, baka mag-iba ang lasa," Defensor said.

(The balance is already right. If you add more ingredients, you might ruin the flavor.)

Matibag was originally scheduled to testify on Monday, July 20. However, the Senate impeachment court moved the voting on the prosecution's motion seeking subpoenas for Duterte's bank and tax records to July 20 from July 15, effectively making Matibag the prosecution's lone remaining witness on Article 4.— MCG, GMA News