MANILA – The House prosecution withdrew Vice President Sara Duterte’s chief of staff, lawyer Zuleika Lopez, and House Legislative Security Bureau Executive Director Capt. Belinda Bello from its witness list, saying their testimonies had become unnecessary following the presentation of earlier evidence.

Near the close of the fifth day of the Senate impeachment trial, private prosecutor lawyer Lorna Kapunan said the decision came after prosecutors reviewed the testimony and documentary evidence presented through National Bureau of Investigation officials John Mark Calilung and Jeremy Lotoc.

“It is the wisdom of the public prosecutors, as expressed through this representation, that we find it totally unnecessary, redundant and a surplusage to still present Atty. Zuleika Lopez and, as well, Capt. Belinda Bello,” Kapunan told the impeachment court.

Kapunan said Lopez had originally been expected to testify on three matters related to Duterte’s Nov. 23, 2024 online press conference, which is the subject of Article IV of the impeachment complaint.

“Had we been able to present Atty. Zuleika Lopez, she would have proven three things —or we would want to have proven three things,” she said.

According to Kapunan, prosecutors intended to establish that Lopez was inside the House detention facility when Duterte made the statements captured in a video marked as Exhibit P-4-10, that members of the media witnessed the remarks, and that Lopez could authenticate the video and its source.

She said Lopez’s testimony on the first point was no longer necessary after defense counsel Mark Vinluan acknowledged during the proceedings that the press conference took place, that both Duterte and Lopez were present, and that Duterte made the statements heard in the recording, although the defense disputed the prosecution’s interpretation of the remarks.

“No need to present Atty. Lopez for this purpose,” Kapunan said.

Kapunan added that authenticating the video had also become unnecessary because the defense had used portions of the same recording during its own presentation.

“Totally unnecessary because, why? Because the defense themselves used the very same video, that exhibit, in their defense when they showed Atty. Zuleika crying and allegedly complaining about the violation of her human rights,” she said.

“So, by their own admission, there is no question about this video.”

Kapunan also said Bello’s testimony would only have corroborated evidence regarding the events that preceded Duterte’s Nov. 23 online press conference.

“The testimony of Capt. Belinda Bello is merely corroborative. She would have been presented only to corroborate the fact that there was a transfer order made in the detention center and that transfer order had been the subject of the video or press conference of November 23, 2024,” Kapunan said.

With the removal of Lopez and Bello from the witness list, the prosecution reduced the number of witnesses it plans to present under Article IV of the impeachment complaint, which concerns Duterte’s public statements against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then-Speaker Martin Romualdez.

“We have reduced trial dates by lessening our presentation on this article by two witnesses,” Kapunan said.

She said the prosecution reached the decision after evaluating the evidence already presented, the examinations conducted by both parties and the clarificatory questions raised by the senator-judges.

“We have decided from the evidence presented and from everything in consideration that we will not present these two witnesses,” she added. PNA