Batangas Second District Rep. Gerville Luistro is the House lead prosecutor for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
This Tuesday, Luistro leads the prosecution team’s direct examination of witness E-Government Procurement Operations Division Chief Rendell Sopeña from the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGeps).
Luistro, prior to being the lead prosecutor, also headed Duterte’s impeachment proceedings before the House of Representatives as the chairperson of the House committee on justice.
There, she coined the term ‘mini-trial’ which has time and again been raised by the defense team. According to Luistro, there was no trial that happened in the justice panel but only clarificatory hearings.
She said the term was used with the intent to explain only what will happen before the committee hearings as it determines probable cause as opposed to the trial that will happen in the Senate.
Luistro also served as an interpellator in the House’s quad committee (quadcom) hearings where four House committees investigated large-scale national issues including the confidential funds of Sara Duterte, former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, and the operations of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (Pogo).
Earlier, Luistro also worked as a former confidential agent of the Bureau of Immigration, and consultant of the witness protection program under the Department of Justice (DOJ).
She also served as the executive assistant of former DOJ Secretary Hernando Perez and taught as a full-time professor at Lyceum of Batangas.
The congresswoman, who holds degrees in liberal arts and commerce, completed her law degree from the University of Batangas where she graduated cum laude and was recognized as best debater, before passing the bar examinations in 2002.