Chua: Evidence against VP Sara Duterte is solid

Vice President Sara Duterte. CDN Digital File Photo

MANILA, Philippines — Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua believes prosecutors can secure a conviction in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment case, citing the strength of the evidence against her.

In a press briefing on Monday, Chua — one of the prosecutors tapped by the House of Representatives — said recent revelations of other questionable names on the acknowledgment receipts (ARs) for confidential fund (CF) expenditures of Duterte’s offices bolster their case.

Last Thursday, it was revealed that there were more odd personalities who signed off the ARs of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) CF expenses like those possibly linked to Mary Grace Piattos and a certain Xiaome Ocho. These are names similar to a coffee shop, famous potato chip brand, and phone, according to lawmakers.

“Well this only proves that our evidence is getting stronger, and this will be part of our Articles of Impeachment, and again, the question remains: if these are fictitious names, where did the money go?” Chua said in Filipino.

Duterte was impeached last February 5 after 215 House lawmakers filed and verified a fourth complaint hinged on different issues, including those uncovered during the hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability, which Chua heads.

There are seven articles in the verified impeachment complaint:

• Article I: Betrayal of public trust, commission of high crimes due to her threats to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez
• Article II: Betrayal of public trust and graft and corruption due to misuse of CFs of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the OVP
• Article III: Betrayal of public trust and bribery within the DepEd
• Article IV: Violation of the 1987 Constitution and betrayal of public trust due to unexplained wealth and failure to disclose assets
• Article V: Commission of high crimes due to involvement in extrajudicial killings in the drug war
• Article VI: Betrayal of public trust due to alleged destabilization plots and high crimes of sedition and insurrection
• Article VII: Betrayal of public trust due to her unbecoming conduct as vice president
• Chua said he would be in charge of explaining Articles II and III. Both issues popped out during the hearings done by his committee.

According to Chua, more meetings — including one on Tuesday — would be held by the prosecution panel to discuss the division of tasks and possible additional evidence and testimonies.

“We continue, just like the last time, we are dividing duties, regarding who should handle what particular article so that everyone gets an assignment. And at the same time, we study the substance of each article and what are the possible legal issues that we will face,” he said.

“If you will ask me, the strongest cases are found in Article I to III.  But with what we have filed, with the articles of impeachment, there are only seven.  And these were studied right from the start, and we checked what issues are really backed with evidence,” he added.

During one of the hearings conducted by the House committee on good government and public accountability, it was revealed that some of the ARs for CF disbursements were signed by a certain Mary Grace Piattos, a first name similar to a coffee shop and a last name of a famous potato chip brand, according to lawmakers.

Later on, Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong showed two ARs — one for OVP and another for DepEd — which were both received by a certain Kokoy Villamin. However, the signatures and handwriting of Villamin differed.

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