Today is the 30th day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, with the Senate impeachment court set to continue hearing Article II on alleged unexplained wealth. PhilGEPS Division Chief Rendell Sopeña is expected to complete his testimony, while Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte may also take the witness stand.
10:35 a.m. - Atty. Roberto Batungbacal, counsel for the respondent, proceeds with his cross-examination.
10:34 a.m. - Rendell Sopeña, Chief of the Electronic Government Procurement Operations Division (EGPOD) of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) is called to the witness stand.
10:31 a.m. - Senator-judge and Presiding Officer Francis Escudero asks Diokno to reduce his request for stipulation into writing, says the impeachment court will issue a ruling about this within the week, if not tomorrow.
10:29 a.m. - Sison also points out that if the Constitution prohibits compelling a respondent to testify against himself, a request for admission should also not be allowed.
10:24 a.m. - Atty. Sheila Sison, lead defense counsel counters Diokno's manifestation. -- “The constitutional guarantee protects as well the right to silence. As far back as 1905, we had the occasion to declare the accused has a perfect right to remain silent and his silence cannot be used as a presumption of his guilt.”
10:19 a.m. - Diokno says the objection must be overruled. He says though, that they are willing to enter into stipulations with the respondent in relation to bank documents and other document s produced by witnesses through subpoenas issued by the impeachment court.
10:16 a.m. - House Prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno talks about their request for admission regarding bank, tax, and business records of Vice President Sara Duterte. Diokno says they merely want to speed up the process in requesting admission or denial of the existence of these records. The counsel for the respondent had filed a formal objection to the request.
10:05 a.m. - Quorum is declared with 15 senator-judges present.
10:03 a.m. - Day 30 of the #VPOnTrial is called to order.
LIVE UPDATES: Vice President Sara Duterte's Impeachment Trial (Day 29)