MANILA – The defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte said it is prepared for the start of her Senate impeachment trial on July 6 and may present “surprise witnesses” depending on the evidence introduced by the prosecution.

Defense spokesperson Michael Poa said in an interview with Bilyonaryo News Channel that Duterte’s legal team has been preparing for the impeachment proceedings for more than a year and remains ready following the conclusion of the pre-trial conference.

“For the part of the defense, we have been preparing for this for over a year now,” Poa said in a mix of English and Filipino. “We’re ready then and we’re ready to go into trial now,” he added.

Poa said the defense is awaiting the Senate impeachment court’s pre-trial order, which will summarize matters discussed during the conference and allow both parties to submit comments if necessary.

“Marami ding nangyari nung pre-trial so we’re awaiting kung ano din yung lalabas sa order (A lot also happened during the pre-trial, so we’re awaiting whatever comes out in the order),” he said.

“If there is a need to comment, we will comment, but so far, wala namang (there are no) changes dun sa (in the) July 6 first trial date,” he added.

On June 29, the Senate impeachment court issued the pre-trial order to both the House prosecution panel and Duterte’s legal team.

The court approved a 92-day trial schedule, allocating 62 trial dates for the prosecution and 30 for the defense.

According to Poa, the defense included 90 witnesses in its pre-trial brief but may not call all of them, depending on how the prosecution presents its case.

“I think we all know naman that it would still depend on how the prosecution presents their evidence, and we will have to react accordingly,” he said.

Poa also said both camps have identified reserved witnesses who could be presented later in the proceedings.

“We have reserved witnesses and so did the prosecution,” he said. “May mga reserved witnesses kami and wala naman kaming problema doon as long as there is disclosure prior to the date that the witness will be presented (We have reserved witnesses, and we do not have any problem with that as long as there is disclosure before the date the witness will be presented),” Poa added.

He said the defense would focus on examining the prosecution’s evidence and cross-examining its witnesses before deciding which evidence and witnesses to present.

“The burden is upon the prosecution to make their case first,” Poa said. “For the defense, depending on what they present, that’s the time we actually determine kung ano yung kailangan namin ilabas (For the defense, depending on what they present, that is when we determine what we need to present),” he added.