Senate to open Sara Duterte impeachment trial to 150 visitors — ANC

[0:00] Let's get another update from the Senate, this time on the preparations of the defense. [0:07] ABS-CBN's Katrina Domingo joins us live. [0:10] Katrina, good morning. [0:12] Hi, Karen. All eyes on the Senate this morning with one big question for the defense in mind. [0:19] That's whether or not Vice President Sara Duterte will actually attend her own impeachment trial, [0:25] the first day of her own impeachment trial later today. [0:27] But so far, no clear word yet on that question as defense spokesperson Attorney Michael Poa [0:34] has been playing coy about the Vice President's attendance or her whereabouts. [0:39] Should she actually prefer to just monitor the proceedings instead? [0:44] Poa says that all systems are already in place for their camp [0:47] and that there was no need for the Vice President to issue last-minute reminders [0:51] or last-minute instructions to her defense lawyers [0:54] saying that they have been in constant communication in recent days [0:58] and that they have been preparing for this trial as early as 2023 [1:02] when reports of a possible ouster plot against the Vice President first surfaced. [1:08] Now, also, Karen, not much public fanfare over the weekend on the side of the defense, [1:13] which is quite typical of private lawyers who prefer to keep their full deck of cards [1:17] close to their chests ahead of the actual trial. [1:20] But we expect the 16-member defense team to arrive before the start of the trial [1:25] and will convene in their designated holding area for a last-minute huddle [1:29] before the proceedings begin. [1:31] Poa says lead counsel Sheila Sison will deliver their opening statement, [1:35] which is expected to span around 15 to 20 minutes. [1:39] Karen? [1:40] All right. [1:41] Can you repeat that again? [1:42] And so the lead counsel of the defense is Attorney Sheila Sison [1:47] and she will be the one to give the opening statement today. [1:51] That's right, Karen. [1:55] And as far as Michael Poa is concerned, [1:57] that opening statement will last between 15 and 20 minutes. [2:01] That's the allotted time span for the opening sessions, [2:04] both or rather for the opening statements, [2:06] both for the defense and the prosecution panels. [2:08] But Poa did not elaborate on the substance of what Attorney Sison will be delivering this afternoon, [2:14] so we will have to wait and see what happens later on today. [2:17] Karen? [2:18] All right. [2:19] Now, Katrina, I'm sure you're quite aware of the preparations there, [2:22] what's going on behind the scenes. [2:25] I'm curious, would you have any information? [2:27] Let's say the impeachment trial starts already at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. [2:32] Senate President Wint Gatchalian said he will be presiding. [2:37] But does that mean he will be presiding throughout the whole impeachment trial? [2:43] Or are there talks that senators will be taking a vote on another colleague becoming presiding officer? [2:52] There were talks earlier on that Senator Chis Escudero would be presiding the trial itself. [2:59] What are you hearing, Katrina? [3:01] Karen, so far, last word that we got is that there will be a caucus this morning amongst all senators. [3:09] And in that caucus, they will decide on who will be the final presiding officer for the impeachment trial. [3:16] As to the fine print or the details of that presiding officer role, that will also be discussed in the meeting later on today. [3:25] 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. [3:35] 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. [3:42] 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. [3:51] 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. [4:00] Karen? [4:00] Yes, all right. Now, I just want to ask you this because, of course, media personnel, right, we've all registered earlier on. [4:10] We all have to get the approval of the Senate. [4:13] But each and every day, ordinary Filipino citizens, right, civilians, are encouraged to watch, not just online, but they can watch it live. [4:25] Tama, Katrina, no? [4:29] Yes, Karen, that's right. Medyo masalimuot nga lang yung pagpaproceso. [4:33] There will be a special process in the way that they can get those limited seats. [4:38] Oh, oh. Ilan ba ang seats that are open to the public? [4:42] Okay, Karen, so far, the last word that we got is that the Senate can accommodate 200 people. [4:50] Whether or not those numbers would be adjusted in favor of the public or for the media, 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, the final details before the impeachment trial begins. [5:05] So far, Karen, we've received word from our sources that you have to confirm this with Senate Secretary Bantug later, but that the last word that we got from our source was that there were over 800 people, at least 800 people, who signed up for the first day. [5:21] And so far, the Senate says it could only accommodate 200 people. [5:24] And we have to clarify if that already includes the media headcount or if that only involves the public who would be watching the impeachment of the vice president for the first time. [5:35] Karen. [5:35] All right. Thank you very much, Katrina Domingo, reporting live from the Senate. [5:41] All eyes at the Philippine Senate for the start of the historic and high-stakes impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. [5:50] Let's get an update on the situation in the Senate right now from ABS-CBN's R.G. Cruz. [5:57] R.G. [6:01] Hi, Karen. Good morning. [6:02] Security is very tight hours before day one of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte begins. [6:09] At the perimeter of the Senate, there is a lot of security and access to the premises is restricted only to those who are pre-cleared [6:19] and who have gone through the prescribed security procedures. [6:24] Of course, the vice president's trial, which is just the third in the country's history, is set to begin at 2 p.m. today and will end when the court decides it will end. [6:36] Today, we will see or we expect to see if Senate President Sherwin Kachalyan will continue to preside [6:42] or if there will be an election of another presiding officer because we do know that weeks ago they amended the rules to allow [6:50] and to give the Senate plenary the option to elect a presiding officer. [6:56] Of course, we also expect to hear the opening statements of the prosecution [7:00] as they are going to be making their case and give us an overview of their case against the vice president. [7:06] The vice president is not expected to attend as she was given the option to send her lawyers. [7:13] Of course, in compliance with the pretrial order, the prosecution already gave a heads up [7:19] and filed a manifestation last week for their first three witnesses for July 6, July 7, and July 8. [7:25] These are NBI Regional Director Jeremy Lontok, Senior Agent John Mark Calilong, [7:30] and House Executive Director Belinda Bello of the House Legislative Security Bureau, [7:36] and all of them are expected for the hearings this week. [7:40] There are, of course, overall 57 witnesses for the prosecution, 45 for the defense. [7:46] 17 of these people are common witnesses. [7:48] The trial schedule from today until the 27th is at 2 p.m. until the court decides to end it. [7:55] And then after the State of the Nation address, there will be a tweak or an adjustment to the schedule [8:00] from Tuesdays to Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. until the court decides to end. [8:07] All in all, the prosecution needs 62 trial days to make their case and 30 trial days for the defense. [8:14] Of course, we know there are four articles of impeachment against the vice president, [8:18] and based on the pretrial order, they will present the Article 4 first. [8:23] This is concerning the matter of threats to certain officials of the government. [8:29] That is expected to take 11 trial days. [8:32] After that, they will move on to Article 2 on the matter of the confidential funds, [8:37] which was expected to take 31 trial days. [8:40] And then they will move on to Article 3, which is bribery and corruption in the DepEd [8:44] that is expected to take 8 trial days. [8:46] And finally, they will end with Article 2 on unexplained wealth. [8:50] That is expected to take 12 trial days. [8:54] Karen? [8:54] All right, RG, I want you to take us a bit through the process. [9:00] Today, the impeachment trial is scheduled to start at 2 in the afternoon. [9:07] What happens if the senators choose to vote for a presiding officer? [9:12] Will that happen within the 2 o'clock period? [9:17] Or will the Senate convene earlier with the Senate president, of course, presiding, [9:23] and then they vote for a presiding officer to actually open the impeachment trial? [9:32] There is no schedule for the convening of the Senate as a regular legislative body today. [9:36] That is not expected until the opening of the second regular session of the 20th Congress [9:44] on the day of the State of the Nation address, which is the fourth Monday of this month. [9:49] So what we are expected to convene or what we expect to see today [9:53] is the convening of the first day of the impeachment court. [9:56] And necessarily, if they do decide, if they do decide to go down that route [10:00] of electing a different presiding officer, [10:04] that is expected to be within the first few moments of the session today. [10:09] Karen? [10:10] All right, thank you very much, RG Cruz. [10:13] And I think I'll be seeing you later in the Senate. [10:16] See you later. [10:19] The fate of Vice President Sara Duterte, [10:22] her impeachment trial rests on the votes to be cast by senator judges. [10:28] Several of them are trained lawyers, [10:30] while others previously served as judges in other impeachment trials. [10:37] In this special report, RG Cruz takes a look at how their experiences [10:42] and political interests may affect the verdict. [10:46] Majority of the senators of the 20th Congress [10:50] will be first-time judges in an impeachment trial. [10:53] Only nine have past trial experience. [10:56] Senators Loren Legarda and Vicente Soto III [10:58] took part in the trial of former President Joseph Estrada. [11:02] They also judged the trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona with seven others. [11:07] While Soto and Legarda had different votes in the second envelope [11:09] that led to the abrupt end of the Estrada trial, [11:13] all of them voted to convict Corona. [11:15] Modesty aside, I have the uncommon ability to determine [11:20] if a person is telling the truth or not. [11:24] An error in judgment has no place in this trial [11:27] because it is final and irreversible. [11:31] Hindi po ako nagmamarunong-marunong dito. [11:35] Ang ginagamit ko lang po dito, konsensya. [11:39] Representante ng masa na hindi nakapag-aral, [11:43] hindi marunong mag-inglish, [11:45] ni walang alam sa batas. [11:47] Ang tunay na hukom sa paglilitis na ito ay ang taong bayan. [11:53] Ngunit ang kapangyarihan ng demokrasya ay nasa kanilang mga kamay. [11:59] Only five of the 24 incumbent senators are lawyers. [12:03] But experts don't see that as a handicap, [12:05] stressing their votes will ultimately be a matter for their conscience. [12:08] And that is the best we can expect from them. [12:13] An impartial verdict based on their honest belief. [12:17] It's the knowledge of how to discern [12:20] whether a particular witness is telling the truth. [12:24] And you can observe in the way the demeanor of the witness is being presented. [12:32] In 2012, let's go. [12:33] In 2012, let's go.