The sheriff, VP Sara Duterte punched years back, will appear as a trial witness in the impeachment.
VP SARA DUTERTE IMPEACHMENT – A court sheriff whom she punched during a 2011 demolition was listed for her trial.
Last February, VP Sara Duterte faced her fourth impeachment complaint. The several complaints involved accusations of betrayal of public trust and gross abuse of discretionary powers regarding the alleged misuse of the PHP 625 million confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).
Recently, on Thursday, according to the prosecution’s pretrial brief, eight witnesses are expected to testify in support of allegations that the vice president made grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
One of the key witnesses is Abe Andres, the sheriff whom Duterte allegedly assaulted while carrying out a court order to demolish shanties in Barangay Soliman, Agdao District, Davao City.
Andres took four blows to his face and back from Duterte, and at that time, he was taken to the hospital after the incident. The punch happened in 2011 when the vice president was still the mayor of Davao City.
He is listed as among the trial witnesses “to prove that respondent has the tendency to inflict violence.” The prosecution panel said it considers his testimony “relevant and material” to the fourth article of impeachment, believing it could help establish key facts related to the allegations being raised in the case.
Besides Andres, other witnesses supporting the charge are:
- House Legislative Security Bureau Executive Director Belinda Bello;
- NBI agent Jeremy Lotoc;
- NBI agent John Mark Calilung;
- NBI Director Melvin Matibag;
- Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office representative;
- Reuters reporter Mikhail Flores;
- Former Rappler reporter Bonz Magsambol.
Reserve witnesses include:
- Family member of a victim of threats
- Psychiatrist
What can you say about this? Let us know in the comments!