MANILA, Philippines — The House prosecution panel on Tuesday abandoned plans to present 15 remaining witnesses in its presentation of the article on confidential funds in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, saying it would instead seek to call Duterte herself after presenting evidence on all four articles.
Private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan announced the decision, pointing out that the panel had presented 10 of the 27 witnesses originally listed in its pretrial brief. Stipulations had made the personal appearance of two others unnecessary.
The decision also removed the three witnesses scheduled for the day -- Police Major Jovelyn Magay, Sunshine Fajarda, and Bresilio Sabaldan.
She explained that the evidence presented pointed toward Duterte as the person who should answer for the matters under examination.
“At the end of all of these articles we reserve the right to present the Vice President herself,” she said.
