MANILA — The House prosecution panel on Friday said it is ready for the July 6 impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte after the Senate impeachment court concluded its pre-trial proceedings.

The Senate wrapped up the five-day pre-trial conference on Thursday, during which procedural matters were resolved and documentary evidence was organized ahead of the formal presentation of the case.

In a virtual press briefing, House impeachment spokesperson and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the completion of the pre-trial conference clears the way for the trial to begin as scheduled.

“Kakatapos lang po ng pre-trial conference kahapon at nakahanda ang prosecution na mag-submit ng kanilang mga komento (The pre-trial conference just finished yesterday, and the prosecution is preparing to submit its comments),” he said.

Adiong said the impeachment court is expected to begin hearing evidence from both the prosecution and the defense in accordance with due process.

He added that the trial will provide the prosecution its first opportunity to publicly present evidence supporting the impeachment complaint.

“Ang taumbayan po ay nakikinig, nagbabantay, at nagmamatyag. Deserve nila ang katotohanan at pawang katotohanan lamang. At iyan po ang panata ng prosecution team. Ang ilatag ang katotohanan at pawang katotohanan lamang sa sambayanang Pilipino sa nalalapit na paglilitis kay Vice President Sara Duterte (The people are listening, watching and observing. They deserve the truth and only the truth. And that’s the vow of the prosecution – to lay down the truth before the Filipino people during the upcoming trial of Duterte),” Adiong said.

House legal spokesperson Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. said the conclusion of the pre-trial phase marks an important step in the impeachment proceedings.

“We welcome this important milestone because it allows the constitutional process to move forward and gives the Filipino people the opportunity to hear the evidence, examine the facts, and know the truth through a fair, transparent, and orderly trial,” he said.

Among the witnesses listed by the prosecution is former Davao City court sheriff Abe Andres, who was punched by then-Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte during a demolition incident in 2011.

Tolosa said Andres’ testimony is intended to establish an alleged behavioral pattern, which is allowed under the rules of evidence.

“Under the rules, it is allowed to present evidence to establish a behavioral pattern, to establish the propensity of a person to resort to violence, for example,” he said.

Adiong said the prosecution will examine both the Vice President’s actions and statements, including her alleged threats against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.

“When she’s angry, she gets too volatile,” Adiong said.

“It also speaks about the attitude that she is – the culture of impunity that we would try to address,” he added.

“No one should be above the law. No one should have the right to take justice into their own hands,” he said.

The prosecution panel also included a psychiatrist in its witness list to provide expert testimony on the seriousness of the alleged threats against the President, the First Lady, and the former speaker.

Tolosa said the expert’s testimony could help determine whether the statements were made seriously and not in jest.

“So, it could establish a lot of things, among other things, the seriousness of the threats, the fact that when it was made, it was not made in jest,” he said.

“The fact that the threat was seriously made and there was every intention to produce that intended effect, which is to threaten the recipients of these statements,” he added.

Adiong said the psychiatrist would help the impeachment court objectively assess whether the alleged threats were intentional and should be interpreted as serious.

“Someone who is objective and non-partisan is the right witness to establish to the court that, yes indeed, these allegations and these threats are made with seriousness,” he said.

“The only way for the public to know that these threats are made in seriousness, with clarity and with seriousness, is for an expert to observe and assess the utterances of threats against the President, the First Lady, and the former speaker,” he added.

Meanwhile, the prosecution said the sealed Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) box may contain key evidence related to the impeachment article on alleged unexplained wealth.

The sealed box contains income tax returns submitted by the BIR to the House Committee on Justice in compliance with a subpoena covering the tax filings of the Vice President, her spouse, and their financial interests.

According to the prosecution, the records will be compared with Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) and other financial documents to determine whether her declared assets and lawful income are consistent.