Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville Luistro has firmly rejected claims that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is influencing the prosecution’s strategy in the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Speaking in a radio interview with DZBB, Luistro—who serves as the lead prosecutor of the House panel—emphasized that the prosecution team acts strictly on behalf of the House of Representatives rather than the executive administration.
“In other words, ang amin pong kinakatawan ay ang House of Representatives at wala nang iba,” she said.
Addressing speculations of executive backing, she added:
“Hindi po kami ang administrasyon, at lalong hindi po kami si President Bongbong Marcos.”
The relationship between Marcos and Duterte has soured following the dissolution of their 2022 “UniTeam” alliance, with Duterte now serving as a prominent administration critic. Luistro underscored that the constitutional power to initiate impeachment lies exclusively with the House, and its public prosecutors were chosen by over 300 lawmakers to represent the institution.
The 26-member prosecution team comprises 11 public prosecutors from Congress and 15 volunteer private lawyers.
“Ang private prosecutors naman po, nandiyan as volunteer lawyers because they believe in the cause of the public prosecutors,” Luistro explained.
Regarding rumors of sufficient votes to secure a conviction in the Senate, Luistro dismissed the numbers as unverified speculation, echoing cautions raised by Senator Risa Hontiveros.
“May haka-haka, may usap-usapan na may 14 na daw, may 16 na daw, but the only time we can verify that is during the time of voting, no?” she noted.
Luistro agreed that senator-judges must keep an open mind until all arguments are heard.
“The perfect time for them to weigh kung, kung for conviction ba or for acquittal ay kapag parehas na nilang nakita ang ebidensya ng magkabilang panig,” she stressed.