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Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
May 19, 2026 | 5:02pm
The House prosecution team reveals their article assignments, May 19, 2026.
Screengrab via House livestream
MANILA, Philippines — The 11-member House prosecution team has divided itself into four groups, one for each article of impeachment they will press against Vice President Sara Duterte when her trial begins.
Rep. Jinky Luistro (Batangas, 2nd district), the lead prosecutor, announced the assignments Tuesday, May 19, at the panel's first press conference since the Senate convened as an impeachment court yesterday.
Rep. Lorenz Defensor (Iloilo, 3rd district) will head the team on threats and destabilization. This is the charge in relation to Duterte's November 2024 statement that she had arranged for a hitman to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then-Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez if she herself were killed.
Defensor will be joined by Rep. Leila de Lima (Mamamayang Liberal), Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora (San Juan City) and Luistro.
Rep. Joel Chua (Manila, 3rd district) will lead the prosecutors for the charge of bribery. He is joined by Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez (1-Rider), Rep. Kaka Bag-ao (Dinagat Islands) and Zamora.
The article covers the alleged distribution of cash envelopes reportedly handed to officials involved in Department of Education procurement, when Duterte was education secretary.
Rep. Terry Ridon (Bicol Saro) will head the unexplained wealth team, the largest at nine prosecutors, including Rep. Chel Diokno (Akbayan), Bag-ao, Gutierrez, Luistro, Chua, De Lima, Rep. Lordan Suan (Cagayan de Oro, 1st district), and Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores (Bukidnon, 2nd district).
The article centers on Duterte's alleged accumulation of wealth disproportionate to her declared income, based on financial records and bank transaction reports surfaced in House hearings.
Luistro will lead the team on confidential funds, covering the alleged misuse and questionable liquidation of P612.5 million allocated to the Office of the Vice President and the DepEd while Duterte served as education secretary. She will be joined by Chua, Defensor, Gutierrez, Suan, Flores, Diokno and Ridon.
The lawmaker said the lineups could still change and do not indicate the order in which the articles will be presented.
"This is a matter which is still being discussed," Luistro said.
The House prosecutors welcomed the Senate's move to convene as an impeachment court but pressed senators to begin the trial without delay, citing the constitutional requirement that impeachment proceedings move "forthwith."
"Let us all be reminded that what is mandated to be forthwith is not only the convening, it is the trial that is mandated to be forthwith," Luistro said.
She said preparations by all 11 prosecutors are in "full swing."
The Senate convened as an impeachment court on May 18, six days after the House transmitted the articles. Duterte was impeached by the House with an overwhelming majority.
Duterte faces removal from office and a permanent ban from public office if convicted by two-thirds of the Senate.
A conviction would also block any 2028 presidential run by Duterte.
The Senate was rocked by a leadership shakeup during the May 11 House vote, when Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano — backed largely by Duterte allies — was installed as Senate President, replacing Sen. Tito Sotto III.
