Ridon: House prosec team’s confidence of Duterte conviction is based on proof

MANILA, Philippines — Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon on Saturday said the House prosecution team’s belief it will be able to secure Vice President Sara Duterte’s conviction in the impeachment trial lies in the evidence they will present.

He also said their morale does not come from any Senate leadership change. 

During the Saturday News Forum, Ridon was asked if there is more hope of Duterte’s conviction in the impeachment trial now that the Senate leadership has reorganized, and senators have installed Senator Sherwin Gatchalian as the new Senate president pro tempore. 

“Our confidence in convicting the vice president is not based on the numbers of the Senate or the leadership of the Senate. Our confidence in convicting the vice president is based on the evidence itself,” Ridon said. 

READ: Ridon: No money delivered to me; lies can’t stop impeachment trial

The lawmaker also said that the Senate leadership reorganization is “an extraneous matter” to the 11-man prosecution panel, of which he is a member. 

He added that they will still have to convince every senator-judge during the impeachment trial to obtain the “magic” number of 16 votes, or the minimum votes required to convict an impeachable government official.

“Even if the leadership changes or not, I’m quite certain that we will be able to muster the numbers to convict the vice president. We will get to 16, irrespective of who the leadership was and who the leadership is,” the lawmaker said.

Ridon noted the pieces of evidence they will present to the senator-judges, such as the reports of the Anti-Money Laundering Act’s flagging of P6.77 billion worth of bank transactions made by Duterte and her family. 

Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives on May 11 over her alleged misuse of confidential funds, alleged possession of unexplained wealth, and alleged assassination threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Meanwhile, when asked if there is a possibility of having two different impeachment trials under two impeachment courts amid the leadership row in the upper chamber, Ridon said the House of Representatives recognizes the leadership of Gatchalian. 

“From what we can see, having separate trials will not happen because there is only one group that is capable of convening the plenary and the Senate impeachment court. That is no other than the leadership of Senate president Pro Tempore Sherwin Gatchalian,” he maintained.

READ: Executive summary of Sara Duterte’s answer to impeach articles

He also said that he thinks many senator-judges from both the new majority and minority bloc will be convinced to vote for Duterte’s conviction once the pieces of evidence are presented to them. 

The Senate convened as an impeachment court on May 18 under the leadership of then Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano.

The impeachment trial is scheduled to start on July 6 this year. /apl