Senate to begin high-stakes VP Duterte impeachment trial today, July 6 — ANC

[0:18] at the Philippine Senate for the start of the historic and high-stakes impeachment trial [0:23] of Vice President Sara Duterte. Let's get an update on the situation in the Senate right now [0:30] from ABS-CBN's R.G. Cruz. R.G. [0:36] Hi, Karen. Good morning. Security is very tight hours before day one of the impeachment trial [0:42] of Vice President Sara Duterte begins. At the perimeter of the Senate, there is a lot of security [0:48] and access to the premises is restricted only to those who are pre-cleared [0:54] and who have gone through the prescribed security procedures. [1:00] Of course, the Vice President's trial, which is just the third in the country's history, [1:06] is set to begin at 2 p.m. today and will end when the court decides it will end. [1:12] Today, we will see or we expect to see if Senate President Sherwin Kachalyan [1:17] will continue to preside or if there will be an election of another presiding officer [1:21] because we do know that weeks ago, they amended the rules to allow [1:25] and to give the Senate plenary the option to elect a presiding officer. [1:31] Of course, we also expect to hear the opening statements of the prosecution [1:35] as they are going to be making their case and give us an overview of their case against the Vice President. [1:41] The Vice President is not expected to attend as she was given the option to send her lawyers. [1:49] Of course, in compliance with the pretrial order, the prosecution already gave a heads-up [1:55] and filed a manifestation last week for their first three witnesses for July 6, July 7, and July 8. [2:01] These are NBI Regional Director Jeremy Lontok, Senior Agent John Mark Calilu, [2:06] and House Executive Director Belinda Bello of the House Legislative Security Bureau. [2:11] And all of them are expected for the hearings this week. [2:16] There are, of course, overall 57 witnesses for the prosecution, 45 for the defense. [2:21] 17 of these people are common witnesses. [2:24] The trial schedule from today until the 27th is at 2 p.m. until the court decides to end it. [2:31] And then after the State of the Nation address, there will be a tweak or an adjustment to the schedule [2:36] from Tuesdays to Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. until the court decides to end. [2:43] All in all, the prosecution needs 62 trial days to make their case and 30 trial days for the defense. [2:49] Of course, we know there are four articles of impeachment against the Vice President. [2:53] And based on the pretrial order, they will present Article 4 first. [2:58] This is concerning the matter of threats to certain officials of the government. [3:04] That is expected to take 11 trial days. [3:08] After that, they will move on to Article 2 on the matter of the confidential funds, [3:12] which was expected to take 31 trial days. [3:15] And then they will move on to Article 3, which is bribery and corruption in the DepEd [3:20] that is expected to take 8 trial days. [3:22] And finally, they will end with Article 2 on unexplained wealth. [3:26] That is expected to take 12 trial days. [3:30] Karen? [3:30] All right, RG, I want you to take us a bit through the process. [3:35] Today, the impeachment trial is scheduled to start at 2 in the afternoon. [3:42] What happens if the senators choose to vote for a presiding officer? [3:47] Will that happen within the 2 o'clock period? [3:52] Or will the Senate convene earlier with the Senate president, of course, presiding, [3:58] and then they vote for a presiding officer to actually open the impeachment trial? [4:07] There is no schedule for the convening of the Senate as a regular legislative body today. [4:12] That is not expected until the opening of the second regular session of the 20th Congress [4:20] on the day of the State of the Nation address, which is the fourth Monday of this month. [4:24] So what we are expected to convene or what we expect to see today [4:28] is the convening of the first day of the impeachment court. [4:31] And necessarily, if they do decide, if they do decide to go down that route [4:36] of electing a different presiding officer, [4:39] that is expected to be within the first few moments of the session today. [4:45] Karen? [4:46] All right, thank you very much, RG Cruz. [4:48] And I think I'll be seeing you later in the Senate. [4:54] See you later. [4:54] Let's get another update from the Senate, this time on the preparations of the defense. [5:01] ABS-CBN's Katrina Domingo joins us live. [5:05] Katrina, good morning. [5:06] Hi, Karen. [5:10] All eyes on the Senate this morning with one big question for the defense in mind. [5:14] That's whether or not Vice President Sara Duterte will actually attend her own impeachment trial, [5:20] the first day of her own impeachment trial later today. [5:22] But so far, no clear word yet on that question as defense spokesperson attorney Michael Poa [5:28] has been playing coy about the vice president's attendance or her whereabouts. [5:34] Should she actually prefer to just monitor the proceedings instead? [5:39] Poa says that all systems are already in place for their camp [5:42] and that there was no need for the vice president to issue last-minute reminders [5:46] or last-minute instructions to her defense lawyers [5:49] saying that they have been in constant communication in recent days [5:53] and that they have been preparing for this trial as early as 2023 [5:57] when reports of a possible ouster plot against the vice president first surfaced. [6:03] Now, also, Karen, not much public fanfare over the weekend on the side of the defense, [6:08] which is quite typical of private lawyers who prefer to keep their full deck of cards [6:12] close to their chests ahead of the actual trial. [6:15] But we expect the 16-member defense team to arrive before the start of the trial [6:19] and will convene in their designated holding area for a last-minute huddle [6:24] before the proceedings begin. [6:26] Poa says lead counsel Sheila Sison will deliver their opening statement, [6:30] which is expected to span around 15 to 20 minutes. [6:33] Karen? [6:35] All right. [6:36] Can you repeat that again? [6:37] And so the lead counsel of the defense is Attorney Sheila Sison [6:41] and she will be the one to give the opening statement today. [6:46] That's right, Karen. [6:49] And as far as Michael Poa is concerned, [6:52] that opening statement will last between 15 and 20 minutes. [6:55] That's the allotted time span for the opening sessions, [6:58] both or rather for the opening statements, [7:01] both for the defense and the prosecution panels. [7:03] But Poa did not elaborate on the substance of what Attorney Sison will be delivering this afternoon, [7:09] so we will have to wait and see what happens later on today. [7:12] Karen? [7:13] All right. [7:13] Now, Katrina, I'm sure you're quite aware of the preparations there, [7:17] what's going on behind the scenes. [7:19] I'm curious, would you have any information? [7:22] Let's say the impeachment trial starts already at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. [7:27] Senate President Winchak Chalian said he will be presiding. [7:31] But does that mean he will be presiding throughout the whole impeachment trial? [7:38] Or are there talks that senators will be taking a vote on another colleague becoming presiding officer? [7:47] There were talks earlier on that Senator Chis Escudero would be presiding the trial itself. [7:54] What are you hearing, Katrina? [7:55] Karen, so far, last word that we got is that there will be a caucus this morning amongst all senators. [8:04] And in that caucus, they will decide on who will be the final presiding officer for the impeachment trial. [8:10] As to the fine print or the details of that presiding officer role, that will also be discussed in the meeting later on today. [8:20] But, Karen, just one big challenge outside of the actual impeachment court would be the screening process of those who seek to come inside here, the Senate. [8:30] We all know that this will be the first time that the Senate will be opening their chambers to the public for an impeachment trial. [8:37] And as far as we are concerned, there have been quite challenges in terms of the registration for the QR code as well as the scanning of the QR code. [8:46] So later today, we will also test on the preparedness of the actual institution to receive hundreds of people who have signed up to witness this historic event. [8:55] Karen? [8:55] Yes, all right. Now, I just want to ask you this because, of course, media personnel, right, we've all registered earlier on. [9:05] We all have to get the approval of the Senate. [9:08] But each and every day, ordinary Filipino citizens, right, civilians, are encouraged to watch, not just online, but they can watch it live. [9:20] Tama, Katrina, no? [9:24] Yes, Karen, that's right. Medyo masalimuot nga lang yung pagpaproseso. [9:28] There will be a special process in the way that they can get those limited seats. [9:33] Oo, ilan ba ang seats that are open to the public? [9:37] Okay, Karen, so far, the last word that we got is that the Senate can accommodate 200 people. [9:45] Whether or not those numbers would be adjusted in favor of the public or for the media, [9:50] we would have to wait and see until the final caucus this morning on when the Senate is expected to iron out for the last time, [9:57] the final details before the impeachment trial begins. [10:00] So far, Karen, we've received word from our sources that you have to confirm this with Senate Secretary Bantug later. [10:07] But then, the last word that we got from our source was that there were over 800 people, [10:13] at least 800 people, who signed up for the first day. [10:16] And so far, the Senate says it could only accommodate 200 people. [10:20] And we have to clarify if that already includes the media headcount [10:23] or if that only involves the public who would be watching the impeachment of the vice president for the first time. [10:29] Karen? [10:30] All right. Thank you very much, Katrina Domingo, reporting live from the Senate. [10:35] The fate of Vice President Sara Duterte. [10:38] Her impeachment trial rests on the votes to be cast by senator judges. [10:45] Several of them are trained lawyers, while others previously served as judges in other impeachment trials. [10:52] In this special report, R.G. Cruz takes a look at how their experiences and political interests may affect the verdict. [11:02] Majority of the senators of the 20th Congress will be first-time judges in an impeachment trial. [11:09] Only nine have past trial experience. [11:12] Senators Loren Legarda and Vicente Soto III took part in the trial of former President Joseph Estrada. [11:18] They also judged the trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona with seven others. [11:23] While Soto and Legarda had different votes in the second envelope that led to the abrupt end of the Estrada trial, [11:28] all of them voted to convict Corona. [11:31] Modesty aside, I have the uncommon ability to determine if a person is telling the truth or not. [11:41] An error in judgment has no place in this trial because it is final and irreversible. [11:47] Hindi po ako nagmamarunong-marunong dito. [11:51] Ang ginagamit ko lang po dito, konsensya. [11:55] Representante ng masa na hindi nakapag-aral, hindi marunong mag-inglish, ni walang alam sa batas. [12:03] Ang tunay na hukom sa paglilitis na ito ay ang taong bayan. [12:09] Ngunit ang kapangyarihan ng demokrasya ay nasa kanilang mga kamay. [12:15] Only five of the 24 incumbent senators are lawyers. [12:19] But experts don't see that as a handicap, stressing their votes will ultimately be a matter for their conscience. [12:25] And that is the best we can expect from them. [12:29] An impartial verdict based on their honest belief. [12:33] It's the knowledge of how to discern whether a particular witness is telling the truth. [12:40] And you can observe in the way the demeanor of the witness is being presented.