MAAARING isaalang-alang ng House prosecution team ang ni-red flag ng Commission on Audit (COA) na P12.3 bilyong pondo ng Department of Education (DepEd) bilang karagdagang ebidensya sa impeachment trial ni Vice President Sara Duterte.

Sinabi ni House impeachment prosecutor at 1-Rider Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez na maaaring isaalang-alang ng prosekusyon ang P12.3-bilyong disallowances sa DepEd noong pinamumunuan pa ito ni Duterte bilang karagdagang ebidensya sa kanyang paglilitis sa Senado.

Sa isang press conference, sinabi ni Gutierrez na ang COA ay nagsagawa ng pag-audit sa DepEd at naglabas ng mga disallowances bilang bahagi ng regular na pagsusuri sa mga gastusin ng ahensya.

“But if it would be found to be in line with ‘yung mga allegations po natin sa impeachment complaint, then I don’t think the prosecution team would…shy away from making use of such evidence po,” ani Gutierrez.

Gayunpaman, sinabi niya na naniniwala siyang sapat na ang mga ebidensyang hawak ng prosekusyon upang kumbinsihin ang impeachment court ng Senado na hatulan si VP Duterte at alisin siya sa puwesto.

“Without saying too much po, I think we have enough evidence. We have, what we would say, I think it’s more than enough. Especially considering na, in our opinion…na ang impeachment case po ay not strictly criminal. It’s sui generis. It’s more akin to an administrative matter po,” paliwanag niya.

“So ‘yung strictest requirements of evidence that would apply to a criminal case might not apply here. It depends, of course, on the impeachment court kung ano pong decision nila…So, as far as we’re concerned, I think we have enough evidence to at least convince our senator judges of why they should side with the prosecution,” dagdag niya.

Gayunpaman, binigyang-diin niya na mas lalakas ang kaso ng prosekusyon kung may mas maraming ebidensya na lalabas laban kay VP Duterte.

“So I’m pretty sure that the prosecution team will be open to all of these additional avenues to secure even more evidence po,” aniya.

Samantala, sinabi ni House Assistant Majority Leader Pammy Zamora ng Taguig City na balak ng House committee on good government na magsagawa ng imbestigasyon ukol sa DepEd disallowances noong panahon ni VP Duterte bilang kalihim ng edukasyon.

“On whether we plan to bring this up sa Good Government Committee? Yes, in fact, napag-usapan na namin ‘yan ng ibang members dahil sa proposal ni Congressman (Jefferson) Khonghun, balak po talaga ‘yung talakayin sa Committee on Good Government,” ani Zamora.

Ang komiteng ito ay pinamumunuan ni Manila Rep. Joel Chua, isa pang miyembro ng House impeachment prosecution team.