A House prosecutor on Tuesday described the opening of Vice President Sara Duterte‘s impeachment trial as a victory for the Filipino people, saying the Senate impeachment court has finally begun carrying out its constitutional mandate.
House prosecutor Marcelino Libanan Luistro made the remark after the first day of trial, during which impeachment court Presiding Officer Francis Escudero ordered the return of a sealed box containing Duterte’s tax records and those of her husband, Manases Carpio, to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Escudero ruled that the Senate had not issued a lawful order or subpoena requiring the BIR to turn over the confidential records and that the box had not yet been formally offered or marked as evidence.
Despite the ruling, Luistro said it did not diminish the significance of the day’s proceedings.
“The impeachment trial is happening now. That is the most important part of what happened today,” Luistro said.
“We were able to witness that what the Constitution mandates is now taking place,” he added.
Luistro said the prosecution considers the opening of the impeachment trial a victory.
“We are victorious. The prosecution is victorious. The Filipino people are victorious because we have waited for this impeachment trial for so long, and it is happening right now. That alone, we claim victory for what happened today,” he said.
