By Joyce Ann Rocamora | Philippine News Agency
The prosecution team of the House of Representatives is undertaking the necessary steps to counter any rise in misinformation and disinformation in the anticipated impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, its spokesperson Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said Saturday.
Adiong said that on top of its preparation for the trial itself, the team is looking at measures to combat the spread of fake news, which he identified as one of the biggest challenges the prosecution is expected to face leading up to the proceedings.
His appointment as spokesperson, he added, is one way to ensure any information about the trial is disseminated in a timely and accurate manner.
“That’s one of the reasons why nagtalaga ng spokesperson—para ma-counter ‘yong mga naratibong hindi tama,” he said.
“Ang pinaka-purpose ng House prosecution team is to provide clarity to the public, and the way to do that is to combat the rising of fake news.”
The House prosecution, he said, would endeavor to conduct regular briefings once the trial begins.
“We are urging everyone to actively monitor the impeachment trial. Ito ay sagradong duty hindi lang ng House at Senate. Pinag-uusapan natin dito ‘yong accountability mechanism ng Konstitusyon, which all of us are stakeholders,” he said.
The Senate earlier convened as an impeachment court and has already issued a writ of summons to both camps of the prosecution and Duterte.
Adiong said the House prosecution team is now waiting for the defense team’s comments on the articles of impeachment, due on June 1.
“From there, we hope that the Senate can [already schedule] pre-trial, which is basically the laying down of ground rules, markings of evidence, and the identification of potential witnesses from both sides,” he said.
“That would actually give us an idea how the flow of the impeachment trial would go.” (PNA)
