PASAY CITY, Philippines — The House prosecution panel offered to drop its contested request for admission concerning subpoenaed financial documents if Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense team agrees to stipulate three basic facts, a move aimed at speeding up proceedings and bypassing up to 20 potential witnesses.
Speaking on the 30th day of the Senate impeachment trial on Monday, September 28, Akbayan Party-list Representative Chel Diokno explained that the proposal seeks to narrow the scope of disputed matters and avoid spending court time on foundational details.
The initiative directly addresses Article II of the articles of impeachment, which focuses on allegations of unexplained wealth involving the Vice President.
The compromise was introduced after Duterte’s legal team filed a wholesale rejection of the prosecution’s request for admission, arguing that it violated their client’s right against self-incrimination.
Under the proposed arrangement, prosecutors would withdraw the request provided the defense stipulates that the bank documents exist, that they were produced by financial institutions following subpoenas issued by the Senate impeachment court, and that they represent genuine copies maintained by those banks.
“Ganoon lang po kasimple, Your Honors. We will withdraw our request for admission if the respondent will agree to this,” Diokno stated.
Diokno emphasized that entering into the stipulation would not obligate the Vice President to admit fault, acknowledge the accuracy of specific entries, or adopt the prosecution’s view of any financial transactions.
“The proposed stipulations would not require the respondent to admit liability, the truth or accuracy of every entry, or the prosecution’s interpretation of any transaction,” Diokno said.
“The respondent would remain free to contest the relevance, meaning, evidentiary weight and legal effect of the records,” added the lawmaker.
Diokno noted that securing the agreement would significantly streamline the trial process by removing the need to call a large number of bank representatives.
“Kung makapagkasunduan po tayo with the defense, we would be able to dispense with about at least 10 to 20 witnesses who would be testifying on the same things anyway,” he said.
Warning against procedural delays, Diokno cautioned that refusing to acknowledge uncontested details would waste valuable time for the impeachment court.
“Inihain po namin ang request for admission upang maging mas maayos at mabilis ang paglilitis po nitong kaso,” he remarked.
“Ito lang po ang aming layunin: na tukuyin kung alin ang tunay na pinagtatalunan nang hindi na kailangang ubusin ang oras ng hukuman sa mga bagay na maaari namang kilalanin o hindi naman talaga kontrobersyal,” Diokno concluded.