The House prosecution panel is preparing to present more than 30 witnesses for the upcoming Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, expanding its lineup to comply with strict court rules.
Lead prosecutor and Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville Luistro announced the expanded list during a press briefing on Monday, noting that the number of witnesses has surpassed her initial estimate of 25.
The decision to add more names follows a directive from the Senate impeachment court, which mandates that only witnesses officially listed in the pre-trial brief will be permitted to testify during the trial.
“I wish to advance information, but the one I cannot provide details yet because we continue to finalize the pre-trial brief, perhaps until the time of filing today… the witnesses is not only 25. It’s not only 30. It’s even more,” Luistro explained.
While Luistro declined to disclose the specific identities or the final headcount of the witnesses, she assured the public that the details would become clear once the formal documents were submitted to the court.
“As to the exact figure and who these witnesses are, let’s wait until the pre-trial brief is filed with the impeachment court today (Monday),” she added.
Luistro explained that the prosecution team originally intended to streamline their presentation by limiting corroborative witnesses.
However, the court’s rigid filing rules forced a strategic shift to ensure that no critical evidence is excluded from the proceedings.
“If before we were trying to limit corroborative witnesses, were selecting only the most important witnesses, we wanted to make sure that all testimonies would be presented in court, and that is why we considered other witnesses whose testimony are likewise significant,” she said.
The Senate impeachment court has set June 16 as the deadline for both parties to submit their respective pre-trial briefs, while the formal pre-trial conference is scheduled for June 18.