00:00Four articles of impeachment were filed against the respondent vice president.
00:07Today, the prosecution respectfully manifests that it will no longer pursue three of them.
00:22It will stand on one.
00:26And that is Article 2 on Unexplained Wealth.
00:31We respect the decision of the prosecution.
00:35However, whether this will affect how the defense planned to proceed with its presentation of evidence is something that we
00:47must make clear.
00:48It will not.
00:50In other words, the prosecution cannot be allowed.
00:54To have the benefit of its accusations without bearing the burden of having those accusations tested.
01:03The accusations have already entered the consciousness of those who must ultimately render judgment.
01:12In other words, the prosecution would thus retain the benefit of having its evidence heard while the respondent would be
01:21at risk of being denied the benefit of having that evidence contradicted.
01:29And we feel and we believe that this is not fairness and it is not in keeping with the guarantees
01:38of due process.
01:39I want it finished.
01:41I want it finished.
01:41But between finishing it at tapos may unfairness and finishing it na unahin to kaso sa budget, Mr. Presiding Officer
01:51and Mr. Senate President, you know, I'd like to put on record.
01:54I'm very uncomfortable with that.
01:57I think it will be a disservice to the Filipino people.
01:59Articles 1, 3, and 4 shall not be submitted for a vote or verdict by this court anymore.
02:06As there is no longer any charge under Articles 1, 3, and 4 for adjudication in this trial, those articles
02:14shall not be submitted to the members of the court for a vote or for a verdict of conviction or
02:20acquittal.
02:20With prejudice, I had to clarify with my colleagues who are lawyers what that means.
02:25That means that once these are withdrawn, di na to pwedeng ibalik ulit, no?
02:31Wouldn't you want to discuss that first among your team and with Attorney Sheila?
02:37Ang dating po kasi sa amin, you don't want these articles to be dropped.
02:41Would you want to discuss that with your client first to be sure?
02:45Kung nice bang may da-drop, nice ba itong ma-drop na para isang artikel na lang ang pag-uusapan?
02:52O nice ba natin itakal ito na gaya na pag-usapan dati na apat na article dapat ito, no?
02:59Magugulat ang defense dito sa issue na ito kasi ako nagulat.
03:03Baka iba sa inyo hindi gulat, no?
03:04Pero ako po gulat.
03:06Hindi ko alam na mangyayari ito.
03:08It appears that the defense is also surprised.
03:11So I had said that we should give the defense time to decide how they want to react.
03:18Just because magbilis na nagdesisyon ng prosecution,
03:21whether this has been something they've been thinking about for a day, a week, overnight,
03:27well, the defense is the one being accused.
03:30The defense is the one who has to defend themselves,
03:34and we have enough constitutional provisions, legal provisions,
03:38to protect the right of the defense.
03:40And one of them is to give them enough time to decide what is the proper course of action.
