The House prosecution panel is getting additional legal firepower in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, with at least five private law firms lending support, a key House prosecutor confirmed.
San Juan Representative Ysabel Maria Zamora shared that the panel held a meeting on Thursday to map out its strategy ahead of the scheduled June 2 presentation of the Articles of Impeachment before the Senate.
“We have many lawyers, some of them coming from the same firm… definitely more than the public prosecutors,” Zamora told reporters in an online briefing, as reported by GMA News Online. When pressed for a specific number, she said, “Definitely, at least five. Maybe ten.”
Zamora also noted that preparations are well underway. “We’ve had a mock trial before. We prepared the judicial affidavits for the witnesses. We examined witnesses… We’re reviewing all of the documentary evidence that we already have on hand.”
Among the materials set to be presented in the Senate are documents tied to allegedly fictitious recipients of confidential funds from the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education—an issue at the heart of one of the seven Articles of Impeachment filed against Duterte.
Zamora expressed confidence in the strength of their case. “I think it will be difficult to acquit the vice president in view of the numerous pieces of evidence that we have,” she said, emphasizing that senators will face public scrutiny should they vote to acquit.
The charges in the impeachment complaint include conspiracy to assassinate the president and other high-ranking officials, misuse of over ₱600 million in confidential funds, bribery and corruption during Duterte’s tenure at the Department of Education, and allegations of unexplained wealth. Other charges point to her alleged links to extrajudicial killings in Davao City, destabilization attempts, and overall misconduct.
Zamora also clarified that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s earlier call for reconciliation with the Duterte camp was not discussed during the meeting. “It wasn’t even mentioned,” she said. “I would think that everyone’s in agreement that we will proceed with the impeachment simply because it’s our duty to do so.”
The panel is still ironing out details on how the Articles of Impeachment will be delivered on the Senate floor—whether one prosecutor will read them all or if each article will be assigned to a different member of the team. Zamora noted that each prosecutor has already been tasked to focus on three specific articles.
Absent from the recent meeting were ML Partylist Rep-elect Leila de Lima and Akbayan Partylist Rep-elect Chel Diokno, whose terms will begin on June 30. They are expected to join the panel formally once elected in plenary.
