Romer Butuyan 
NAKATAKDANG isalang ng House prosecution panel ang ilang opisyal Office of the Vice President (OVP) at Department of Education (DepEd) na dating pinamumunuan ng pangalawang pangulo sa pag-arangkada ng impeachment trial, ayon kay lead prosecutor at Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro.
Sa isang kalatas, naniniwala si Luistro na mas titibay ang kaso laban sa pangalawang pangulo kung ang mismong katrabaho ni Vice President Sara Duterte ang magpapatunay sa naganap na paglustay sa P612.5-milyong confidential funds na inilaan para sa mga naturang tanggapan ng gobyerno.
“Ang hostile (witnesses), you can anticipate already that this will be officials either from OVP or DepEd,” wika ng lider ng lupon ng tagausig.
“I think most of them you’ve seen already in the inquiry in aid of legislation by the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability then presided by Chair Joel Chua back in the 19th Congress,” dagdag ni Luistro.
Karaniwang itinuturing na “hostile witness” ang mga testigong salungat sa argumentong isinusulong ng panig ng tagausig.
Partikular na tinukoy tinukoy ni Luistro ang alegasyong “systematic misuse, misappropriation, and irregular liquidation of confidential funds amounting to P500 million released to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and P112.5 million released to the Department of Education (DepEd) during her tenure as Education chief.”
Kasama rin sa akusasyon ng nagsasakdal ang sinasabing pamumudmod ni Duterte ng suhol sa ilang DepEd officials para paboran umano ang ilang suppliers – “to induce the violation and circumvention of procurement and other related laws.”
Mula sa naman sa 25, umabot sa 57 ang pinal na bilang ng prosecution testigo batay sa isinumiteng pre-trial brief sa Senate impeachment court.
“Nagsigurado na kami… as to the number of witnesses, the final number is 57,” ayon kay Luistro.
Paliwanag ng kongresista, sa isasagawang pre-trial conference sa Huwebes, Hunyo 18, kailangan ipaalam sa impeachment court ang lahat ng kanilang ebidensya at testigo bago masalang sa trial proper.
Tiniyak naman ni San Juan City Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora, na pangunahing kasapi ng public prosecutors na walang magiging surprise witnesses at surprise evidence sa paggulong ng impeachment trial.
“We have been saying that all the evidence that we will be presenting are all either noted in the articles (of impeachment), those that were presented during the Committee on Justice hearings and all other relevant evidence that is in fact stated in the rules of the Representatives on impeachment proceedings,” ayon pa kay Zamora.
“Now we have our pre-trial brief, nakalagay naman po lahat diyan except those that will be made under reservation that we will make, but there will be at least a general description of all of the evidence that we will present,” dugtong ng San Juan City lawmaker.
“So we follow the general rule that there will be no surprise witnesses or surprise evidence. We will lay out in our pre-trial brief all of the evidence that we will present,” dagdag ng lady lawyer at vice-chairperson ng House Justice Committee.
Samantala, ipinabatid ni Luistro na marami pang legal practitioners ang nagpaabot ng kanilang kagustuhang maging private prosecutors.
“The private prosecutors keep on coming to join the impeachment team and we’re happy about that because that is a validation that even private lawyers, mga abogado de campanilla, believe in the cause of the House of Representatives,” ani Luistro.
“They are joining us in our stand to protect and preserve and enforce this accountability mechanism,” aniya pa.
Matatandaan na 10 private lawyers ang ipinakilala ng House prosecution team na makatutuwang nila sa pagsasakdal sa bise presidente, na pinangungunahan ni veteran trial lawyer Lorna Kapunan.
