House of Representatives impeachment prosecutor Rep. Terry Ridon on Thursday pushed back against claims by Vice President Sara Duterte’s supporters that the prosecution has failed to produce a ‘smoking gun’ after 21 days of trial, telling them to ‘unmute the video’ and listen to the evidence and testimony presented in court.
‘Again, without violating the sub judice restriction, perhaps the video of Duterte supporters has been muted, right? You need to unmute the video so you can hear the details because a lot has already been mentioned,’ Ridon said during a press briefing.fing.
‘But my advice to them is, my friend, unmute the video,’ he added. The Bicol Saro Party-list lawmaker was responding to a question on whether the prosecution has a ‘smoking gun’ to present in the remaining impeachment charges after Duterte’s supporters claimed none had emerged during the first 21 days of trial.
Ridon declined to characterize the weight of the evidence, citing the Senate impeachment court’s sub judice restrictions.
‘I won’t say whether it is very serious or not serious because that would fall under the sub judice restriction,’ he said.
But Ridon questioned what Duterte’s supporters would consider a ‘smoking gun’ after weeks of testimony and documentary evidence presented before the impeachment court.
‘Because that is what the public has already seen. So what other smoking gun are they talking about?’ he said.
The prosecution has completed its presentation of evidence on the article involving Duterte’s alleged threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then-Speaker Martin Romualdez.
It is currently presenting evidence on Article I involving the alleged misuse and irregular liquidation of P612.5 million in confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education.
Ridon said the prosecution believes the evidence it has presented on the first two articles it tackled is ‘more than sufficient,’ while stressing that he would not discuss the weight of specific evidence because of the sub judice rule.