Raffy Tulfo calls out prosecution over 'palpak, nagpapa-cute' presentation of witnesses

Make this your preferred source to get more updates from this publisher on Google.

Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo on Thursday called out the prosecution for supposedly screwing up in certain moments of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Tulfo made the manifestation Thursday during Day 32 of the impeachment trial of the vice president.

"Kasi kung minsan, 'yung prosecution, sorry ah, pero palpak palpak kayo. There are times na naglalagay kayo ng mga witnesses dito na hindi naman kailangan talaga. Nagsasayang tayo ng oras," Tulfo said, without dropping names.

(The prosecution, sorry, but sometimes you screw up. You fielded witnesses that are not needed. It is a waste of time.)

"Wala eh, parang useless eh. So [kung] kukuha kayo ng witness, make sure na talagang witness na iyon, mayroong masasabing bagay na makatulong sa ginagawang investigation sa impeachment. Meron pa kayong kinuha, pinagtatawanan tuloy, nagpapa-cute lang habang may kinakausap na witness na police," Tulfo added.

(It appears useless. When you field a witness, you should ensure that it would shed light on the impeachment allegations. You even had a lawyer who was just trying to look cute while talking to a witness who is a police.)

It was House prosecutor Bel Zamora of San Juan who questioned the Police Major Jerickson Sangalang, Records Division chief of the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office on the guns owned by the Vice President and her husband, Manases Carpio.

Zamora asked the police official if it was appropriate for the vice president to have 22 guns, but it was objected upon by the defense for being speculative. The court ruled in favor of the defense.

"So, ingat kayo sa pagkukuha ng mga witness at ingat kayo sa pagsasalang ng mga abogado ninyo diyan," Tulfo said.

(You should be cautious in fielding witness and lawyers doing the questioning.)

'Walang nagpapa-cute'

In response, the prosecution panel said members of the prosecution team have always been serious in proving the allegations in the impeachment case against the vice president.

"With all due respect to our senator-judges, I believe that all the members of the prosecution panel are working very hard to be able to present very well the evidence for the prosecution. I hope we will not be judged on the basis of minor, nonsense, totally irrelevant observations," House lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro of Batangas said in a press conference.

"Wala pong nagpapa-cute rito. Kung meron mang nagpapa-cute, mas mabuti pong pangalanan po siguro. As far as we are concerned, we are focused on the case, we are proud of our prosecutors," House prosecutor Terry Ridon of Bicol Saro party-list added.

Private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan, for her part, said senator-judges should be reminded that the Senate should be a safe space for all, including women, since it was instrumental for the passage of the Safe Spaces Act or Bawal Bastos law.

"It could be a misstatement [on the part of Senator Tulfo], but I still believe that the Senate is a safe space, [including] for woman and senior citizens like me," Kapunan said. — VDV, GMA News