Solons to defense: If you want personal knowledge, let Duterte appear

MANILA, Philippines — If the defense counsel for the impeachment trial is looking for witnesses with personal knowledge on Vice President Sara Duterte’s financial transactions, then they should just let her appear before the court, two ranking House of Representatives lawmakers said on Tuesday.

In a press briefing during a break from the impeachment trial, Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. and Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V — endorsers of the fourth impeachment complaint against Duterte — said it might be time for the vice president to show up since defense lawyers claim that the prosecution’s witnesses for Article II have no personal knowledge of the case.

So far, the prosecution has presented former Sandiganbayan presiding justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and Office of the Ombudsman Central Records Division officer-in-charge Atty. Karen Batu.

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READ: Diokno: Tang needed to explain how unexplained wealth is a violation 

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“It must be the vice president now, because earlier the defense lawyer was asking, was objecting to the presentation of the witness because the Ombudsman (official) has no personal knowledge of the SALN (Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth),” Abante said.

“So there’s no personal knowledge, then they should allow the vice president to appear because she is the one with personal knowledge, she knows what happened,” he added.

Ortega said that Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, have a lot of explaining to do, which is why the vice president must attend.

“Well actually, since the hearings in the House, we had wanted the Vice President herself to explain things, so if her better half will appear, that will just be a package deal,” Ortega said.

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“They have a lot of explaining to do, they have a lot of answers to give.  Actually it’s not only as an endorser, as I said, as a member of the blue (ribbon) and the quad comm(ittee), we have a lot of questions that prompted us to have her as a resource person.  So as endorsers, we want to see this through and we want our big question marks answered as well,” he added.

Abante said he is confused why Duterte’s lawyers seem to be stopping her from attending the trial when they are looking for someone with personal knowledge.

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“Why won’t the defense lawyers allow the vice president to appear as a witness when she is the impeachable officer, and she is the one who may be convicted, so instead of objecting and saying that the witness has no personal knowledge, well, let the vice president answer because she all has the personal knowledge, right?” Abante said.

During the trial on Monday, defense counsel Mark Vinluan opposed the presentation of Cabotaje-Tang as a witness, noting that she does not have personal knowledge of the case. Public prosecutor and Akbayan party-list Rep. Chel Diokno argued that Cabotaje-Tang would not be asked to testify about the case, but only to provide a legal framework on public accountability laws.

In his offer for Cabotaje-Tang’s testimony during Day 24 of the impeachment trial, Diokno said her testimony would explain when undisclosed or unexplained wealth, prohibited business interests, and other financial dealings could be considered violations.

Eventually, Presiding Officer and Senator-judge Francis Escudero allowed Cabotaje-Tang’s testimony, saying that her testimony will just be instead subjected to cross-examination

READ: Impeach court allows ex-Sandiganbayan justice Tang to testify on SALN 

On Tuesday, defense lawyer Justin Nicol Gular also stated that part of their objection to Batu’s presentation is that she does not have personal knowledge of the case against Duterte.

The prosecution agreed as well, saying that Batu was only there to authenticate the documentary evidence, particularly Duterte’s SALN from 2007.

READ: Escudero OKs showing of VP Duterte’s SALNs from 2007: For baseline only 

In the same briefing, Ortega and Abante called out Duterte’s lawyers over their demeanor during the impeachment trial, saying that the counsel on duty on Monday was rude, while the one deployed on Tuesday was evasive.

Several netizens have accused Vinluan of being rude and irreverent as he asked Cabotaje-Tang questions that delved on the former Sandiganbayan official’s integrity.

At one point during his cross-examination of Cabotaje-Tang, Vinluan asked the former Sandiganbayan official about her political leanings — whether she was anti-Duterte or a Kakampink, the term used by supporters of former Vice President Leni Robredo, referring to their use of pink as a motif when she ran for president in 2022.

Cabotaje-Tang responded by saying that she has been apolitical for a long time, answering that she did not even know what a “Kakampink” is.

READ: Vinluan questions Tang’s political alignment: ‘Are you anti-Duterte?’ 

Later on, Vinluan quizzed Cabotaje-Tang whether she had been promised anything for testifying before the impeachment court. This prompted the former Sandiganbayan official to say that her testimony is not for sale.

“Were you promised anything in return, in exchange for your testimony today Ma’am?” Vinluan asked.

“No, sir. And I will never testify if I were ever offered anything, material or otherwise. My testimony is not for sale sir,” the former justice replied.

READ: Tang tells Duterte lawyer: My testimony isn’t for sale 

Duterte’s SALNs were scrutinized on Day 25 of her impeachment trial, as the prosecution panel moved to Article II of the Articles of Impeachment.

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Article II alleges that Duterte has unexplained wealth which she did not declare in his SALN — hence the need for Batu to authenticate Duterte’s submissions from 2007. /das