House prosecutors during Day 1 of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. Photo from Senate PRIB.
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial formally opened on Monday, as prosecutors framed their case against the nation’s second-highest official as a push for accountability and urged senators to shun politics in casting their verdict.
Shortly after a somber ceremony marking only the third impeachment trial in the nation’s history, the prosecution panel of the House of Representatives asked that senators, serving as judges in the trial, follow the evidence they will present and rule on the case free of political bias.
“The prosecution asks only this: Look at the evidence, listen to the witnesses, examine the records and follow the evidence wherever it leads,” Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, the chief impeachment prosecutor, said in her emotionally charged speech before the Senate.
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