Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon responded on Sunday to the Palace’s concern that withdrawing an impeachment article might ‘shortchange’ the public, saying that evidence has already been presented with the Senate sitting as an impeachment court.
In a statement, Ridon said he respects Palace press officer Claire Castro’s remark, as he noted that evidence of alleged wrongdoing against Vice President Sara Duterte has been laid out already to the Senate, which has televised the proceedings since July.
‘We respect the view of the President’s spokesperson on this matter,’ he said in Filipino.
‘However, the previous and current impeachment articles have already been brought before the Senate Impeachment Court, and the decision now rests with the Court based on the evidence presented in the trial,’ he added.
Ridon’s remark comes after Manila Rep. Joel Chua revealed early Sunday that the prosecution team will drop the bribery charge against Duterte, a development Castro said could deprive Filipinos of the chance to know the ‘whole truth.’
‘If they withdraw the bribery allegation against the vice president, wouldn’t that shortchange or disadvantage Filipinos who want to know the whole truth about this?’ Castro said in a message to reporters.
The decision to abandon the bribery count against Duterte comes as her trial enters its 14th week.
In September, prosecutors said they were studying whether to pursue the allegation that the vice president bribed officials to persuade Department of Education (DepEd) officials to bypass procurement rules in her stint as education secretary.
The prosecution team had already presented two impeachment articles: that Duterte allegedly threatened President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., the First Lady and a former House speaker; and that she misused P612.5 million in confidential funds.
The allegations that Duterte amassed unexplained wealth and misstated her asset disclosures are now being heard in the trial.