MANILA, Philippines — Lead House prosecutor Gerville Luistro on Wednesday withdrew five witnesses originally lined up for the fourth article of impeachment, leaving NBI director Melvin Matibag as the prosecution’s final witness on the charge involving Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged threats.
Luistro said the prosecution decided to drop a representative of the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office, journalists Mickel Flores and Bonz Magsambol, a sheriff involved in a 2011 incident with Duterte, a family member of an alleged threat victim, and a psychiatrist, citing “redundancy, surplusage and lack of necessity.”
Luistro said the Senate impeachment court that the matters the witnesses were expected to establish had already been sufficiently covered by authenticated video evidence, previous witness testimonies, and admissions made during the proceedings, making their testimonies unnecessary.
With the revised witness lineup, Matibag will testify on Tuesday as the prosecution’s final witness for Article IV, which concerns Duterte’s alleged threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez.
After Matibag’s testimony, the prosecution will begin presenting evidence on Wednesday the first article of impeachment involving the alleged misuse of confidential funds and asked the impeachment court to issue subpoenas for its first three witnesses, including House legislative archives official Marivic Pareja and former Land Bank branch managers Violetta Constantino and Nenita Camposano.
