MANILA, Philippines — The prosecution panel of the House of Representatives will shift its focus on how Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged confidential funds were spent and liquidated when it presents two Commission on Audit (COA) officials and a House records custodian in the impeachment trial that resumes on Monday.
The witnesses are expected to testify on the liquidation of the P612.5 million in confidential funds received by the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education between 2022 and 2023, after prosecutors spent the first phase of Article I tracing how the money moved from the National Treasury to cash withdrawals.
“Once we believe the evidence is already strong enough, and additional evidence would only further strengthen it, we do not want a long process or hearing,” House prosecutor and Manila Rep. Joel Chua said during the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.
Chua said the prosecution has lined up about 13 witnesses for Article I but may not present all of them if the allegations can be established by fewer testimonies and documentary evidence, stressing that trimming the witness list would not weaken the case.
The prosecution opened its presentation of evidence on Article I last Wednesday with two former Land Bank of the Philippines branch managers who testified that checks totaling P612.5 million originated from the National Treasury and were withdrawn in cash by authorized special disbursing officers of the OVP and DepEd.
