At least five groups of lawyers are helping the people who want to prove Vice President Sara Duterte did something wrong. These lawyers are working with a team called the House prosecution panel. They met to plan how to show their case starting June 2 in the Senate, which is like a big court for this trial.
One of the lawyers, Representative Ysabel Maria Zamora, said there are many lawyers helping — maybe five or even ten groups! Some lawyers come from the same law office, so it’s hard to say the exact number.
They are getting ready by practicing a “mock trial,” which is like a practice game, and they are looking closely at all the papers and evidence they have. They have stories from witnesses and proof they will show in court.
Some of the evidence they have includes names of people who got money from the Vice President’s office and the Department of Education, but some of these names might be made up.
The lawyers think it will be hard for Vice President Sara to prove she didn’t do anything wrong because there are many proofs against her. If the Senators decide to say she is innocent, they will have to explain why in front of everyone.
There are seven main reasons, or “Articles of Impeachment,” that say what Sara Duterte might have done wrong. These are:
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Planning to hurt President Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez.
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Misusing over 600 million pesos from secret funds without proper papers.
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Giving money illegally in the Department of Education to certain officials.
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Having a lot more money than she should without explaining where it came from.
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Being involved in illegal killings in Davao City.
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Trying to cause trouble in the government by encouraging boycotts and rallies against the President and threatening people.
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Overall bad behavior as the Vice President.
Even though the President said he wanted to make peace with the Duterte family, this was not talked about in the meeting. The lawyers all agreed they will keep working on the trial because it is their job.
Senate President Chiz Escudero sent a letter to the House telling them the trial will start on June 2, and the lawyers talked about how they will read the charges in the Senate. They are planning how many lawyers will speak and who will say what.
Some important lawmakers who will join later were not at the meeting because their terms start in June.
Each lawyer will handle about three of the seven charges to prepare well.
