Photo credit: Congress PH

The House prosecution panel says it is fully prepared to pursue the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte, even if the trial stretches for several months.

House prosecutor and Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua assured the public that the prosecution team remains committed to presenting its case before the Senate impeachment court.

“Wala pong bibitiw,” Chua said during an interview on dzBB's *Bantay Balita sa Kongreso* when asked whether the prosecution was ready if the trial lasted seven to eight months.

“Basta tayo po ay gagawin lamang po namin sa abot na aming makakaya, lahat ng aming magagawa para mai-presenta sa ating mga kababayan at impeachment court ang mga ebidensya base po sa per artikulo,” he added.

The remarks came after Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said the impeachment proceedings could take seven to eight months to complete, depending on the pace of witness presentations and the court's schedule.

Chua clarified, however, that the prosecution's proposal to allocate 62 presentation days does not necessarily mean the trial will last that long.

“Pero hindi naman ibig sabihin noon lahat ’yan masusunod,” he said.

According to Chua, the estimate was based on the assumption that only one witness would testify per hearing. If the prosecution presents two or three witnesses in a single day, the proceedings could move much faster.

He also revealed that the prosecution may not need to present all four Articles of Impeachment if the evidence submitted under the earlier articles is already strong enough to convince the Senate impeachment court.

“Kung saka-sakali po halimbawa dumating pagkaraan po ng dalawang articles, sa tingin po namin ay may sapat na numero na at talagang matibay na matibay na ebidensya na nai-presenta namin, eh pwede naman din po dumating ang pagkakataon ay i-waive na namin ‘yung ibang articles,” Chua explained.

The lawmaker also addressed questions about the large volume of documentary evidence prepared for trial. He said the prosecution originally had around 4,000 acknowledgment receipts related to the alleged misuse of confidential funds. However, because the defense declined a common document-marking procedure and instead requested separate markings, the number of documents that had to be processed doubled to about 8,000.

“Pwede naman kasi ’yung common marking, ibig sabihin po sa isang dokumento puwedeng ’yung defense at saka ’yung prosecution eh doon na lang magmarka sa isang dokumento,” Chua said.

“Pero nangyari dahil ayaw pumayag ng defense at gusto nila separate marking yung gawin sa kanila, so ’yung 4,000 dokumento naging 8,000,” he added.

The Senate impeachment court is scheduled to begin the trial proper on July 6. Vice President Duterte is facing impeachment over allegations that include the alleged misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery involving officials from the Department of Education during her tenure as Education secretary, and alleged threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Speaker of the House Martin Romualdez.

The impeachment complaint was transmitted to the Senate after being endorsed by more than one-third of the members of the House of Representatives, allowing the proceedings to move directly to trial under the Constitution. A two-thirds vote of all senators sitting as impeachment judges will be required to convict and remove the vice president from office.