00:05The prosecution withdraws three of four articles in Sara Duterte's impeachment trial.
00:11The impeachment court lifts the subjudicia rule on withdrawn charges against Sara Duterte.
00:16The Sandigan Bayan orders another 90-day preventive suspension for Senator Jingoy Estrada.
00:22The House of Representatives passes the proposed 7.2 trillion peso national budget for 2027
00:28on third and final reading.
00:30And Pope Leo will undergo surgery to remove a small growth on one of his lungs.
00:43The impeachment court accepts the prosecution move to withdraw all but one of the articles
00:48of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte.
00:51Lead House Prosecutor Jinky Luistro says this will expedite the proceedings.
00:55Luistro adds they would retain only the unexplained wealth case against Duterte,
00:59dropping the cases on alleged confidential fund misuse, bribery, and grave threats.
01:04The prosecution believes it has presented sufficient evidence for Article 2 to stand on its own.
01:14All in po tayo dito.
01:17We believe that evidence is substantial and compelling
01:20and warrants the respondent's removal from office for culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust.
01:31Luistro adds,
01:32By focusing on one article, matters requiring the impeachment court's consideration are correspondingly narrow.
01:38Preciding Officer Cheese Escudero adds,
01:41The defense team no longer needs to present counter-evidence for all the dropped cases
01:45and can focus on rebutting the prosecution's unexplained wealth case.
01:49But lead defense lawyer Sheila Sison warns of a mistrial.
01:52That prerogative to withdraw an accusation is not the power to suppress its rebuttal on the part of the respondent.
02:03The Senate Impeachment Court lifts the subjudice rule on three withdrawn impeachment articles against Vice President Sara Duterte.
02:11This allows the parties to publicly discuss the dropped charges of confidential funds, bribery, and grave threats.
02:17The decision drew objections from lead defense counsel Sheila Sison,
02:21warning that abandoning Rule 18 midway through the trial could undermine the integrity of the proceedings.
02:27We actually object to the abandonment of Rule 18 if we are to be true and faithful
02:34to the rational and wisdom of the subjudicial rule that not only permeates this court,
02:41it permeates the entire judicial system.
02:44Presiding Officer Cheese Escudero explains that relaxing Rule 18 was intended to allow Duterte
02:50to respond to the withdrawn articles.
02:52The reason behind the relaxing of Rule 18 was more to afford, um, actually,
03:00the respondent to, um, to, um, respond in the manner she may deem fit,
03:06both in this courtroom, again, subject to the objections to rulings of the court, and outside.
03:13Senator Judge Kiko Pangilinan moves to maintain the enforcement of Rule 18.
03:17If the court will agree, uh, pending a possible motion for reconsideration on when we resume,
03:24then Rule 18 should continue, uh, to be, uh, enforced, uh, and not abandoned.
03:31Meantime, Duterte faces the media and insists she has no plans of resigning.
03:35No, no, no, no, no, no. Uh, we'll not resign. Uh, we'll never resign from the office of, uh, the
03:45Vice President.
03:48The Anti-Graft Court Sandigan Bayan delivers another 90-day preventive suspension order
03:53for Senator Jinggoy Estrada over his alleged involvement in a flood control project scandal.
03:58The Anti-Graft Court orders a copy of the ruling sent to the office of Senate President Win Gachalian for
04:03implementation.
04:04Issued by the Anti-Graft Court's 5th Division, the decision puts the senator back under a legal cloud,
04:09even as his defense continues to contest the charges against him.
04:13Estrada completed a 90-day suspension ordered by the Sandigan Bayan 2nd Division in June for another graft case.
04:19The 5th Division is hearing the plunder and graft charge against Estrada,
04:23and three suspended Department of Public Works and Highways officials.
04:26Estrada was arraigned on September 3, but declined to enter a plea,
04:30leading the court to enter a not-guilty plea on his behalf.
04:35The House of Representatives passed the proposed 7.2 trillion peso national budget
04:40for 2027 on third and final reading on Monday, October 12.
04:45This amid concerns from some lawmakers and civil society organizations
04:49that the spending plan is riddled with pork-barrel allocations.
04:53The measure received 282 votes in favor, 13 against, and 1 abstention.
04:59Some lawmakers flagged the huge allocation for ayuda or social assistance programs which,
05:04they say, are easily exploited for political patronage.
05:08Mamamayang Liberal Representative Laila de Lima says,
05:11this budget is not people-centered, it is election-centered.
05:14Congressman Edgar Arise, Ellie San Fernando,
05:17and Toby Chanko also flagged the lack of transparency in the budget process.
05:22Civil society group People's Budget Coalition also flagged a 130 billion peso cut
05:28in foreign-assisted projects.
05:29This includes the Metro Manila subway, the North-South Commuter Railway,
05:33bypass roads, and flood mitigation projects in major river basins.
05:38PBC also said these projects are backed by loans that the Philippines has already signed.
05:44Pope Leo is scheduled for surgery on October 13 to remove a small growth on one of his lungs.
05:50This marks his first major health issue since becoming Pope 17 months ago.
05:55Leo told the faithful gathered for the Angelus on Sunday,
05:58a small nodule had been found on a checkup, was well-contained, and had been spotted early.
06:03The Vatican has said his recovery is expected to take about a week.
06:07All his public events have been canceled until October 20.
06:10In the same address, Leo pledged he would go forward with his 11-day tour
06:14of Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from November 6 to 17.
