The Philippine House of Representatives impeachment prosecution panel emphasized that the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte should be adjudicated based on specific accusations and official evidence, rather than dragging in unrelated controversies to the House to challenge the legitimacy of the entire impeachment process and the credibility of the legislature.
House impeachment prosecution spokesperson, Lanao del Sur Representative Zia Alonto Adiong, said in a television interview on Tuesday that various topics must be treated separately, and that other incidents should not be used as a sweeping narrative to question the integrity of the House or the impeachment procedures as a whole.
He said the entire process has been conducted according to the law, starting from the confirmation hearings held by the House Committee on Justice to the open review of the articles of impeachment now in the Senate.
Adiong made these comments in response to the defense lawyer, Sheila Syson, who questioned the House's moral foundation and integrity during the opening of the impeachment case by raising issues about the House's own controversies.
He stressed that the allegations currently faced by the Vice President are not based on rumors or hearsay, but are grounded in factual evidence, including formal reports from government agencies and documents submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA).
He said that these materials clearly reflect how confidential funds were used and how receipts and reports were handled, adding that they were neither fabricated nor obtained arbitrarily.
Sara's impeachment trial officially opened on Monday, with charges including alleged abuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery and corruption, as well as allegedly threatening President Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Adiong stated that the prosecution holds a large volume of official documents and investigation results from government agencies, which can be examined by the Senate impeachment court.
He said the prosecution would not allow the hearing to stray from the accusations listed in the articles of impeachment and the related evidence.
On the issues of conviction threshold and procedural rulings, he said those would be decided according to law by the Senate impeachment court, while the prosecution would focus on presenting the evidence.
"We have full confidence in the case we are submitting to the impeachment court. We possess overwhelming evidence sufficient to substantiate each of the accusations listed in the articles of impeachment."
He added that the prosecution hopes not only to convince the senators serving as adjudicators, but also to demonstrate to the public that each charge in this impeachment case is supported by ample evidence.
He said the entire process has been conducted according to the law, starting from the confirmation hearings held by the House Committee on Justice to the open review of the articles of impeachment now in the Senate.
Adiong made these comments in response to the defense lawyer, Sheila Syson, who questioned the House's moral foundation and integrity during the opening of the impeachment case by raising issues about the House's own controversies.
He stressed that the allegations currently faced by the Vice President are not based on rumors or hearsay, but are grounded in factual evidence, including formal reports from government agencies and documents submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA).
He said that these materials clearly reflect how confidential funds were used and how receipts and reports were handled, adding that they were neither fabricated nor obtained arbitrarily.
Sara's impeachment trial officially opened on Monday, with charges including alleged abuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery and corruption, as well as allegedly threatening President Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Adiong stated that the prosecution holds a large volume of official documents and investigation results from government agencies, which can be examined by the Senate impeachment court.
He said the prosecution would not allow the hearing to stray from the accusations listed in the articles of impeachment and the related evidence.
On the issues of conviction threshold and procedural rulings, he said those would be decided according to law by the Senate impeachment court, while the prosecution would focus on presenting the evidence.
"We have full confidence in the case we are submitting to the impeachment court. We possess overwhelming evidence sufficient to substantiate each of the accusations listed in the articles of impeachment."
He added that the prosecution hopes not only to convince the senators serving as adjudicators, but also to demonstrate to the public that each charge in this impeachment case is supported by ample evidence.