Trillanes to reveal Friday (Oct. 2) contents of supposed trial testimony

MANILA, Philippines — Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV will reveal on Friday, October 2, the contents of his testimony that he would have delivered before the Senate Impeachment Court if he was called as a witness of the prosecution.

Trillanes said this in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Thursday.

This comes after he admitted that it was him who had asked lead public prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro to remove his name from the prosecution’s list of witnesses.

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“Earlier in the day, I requested the House prosecution, under Chair Jinky Luistro, to formally withdraw my name as a witness for the prosecution,” Trillanes said.

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“This way, the prosecution panel would be relieved from the pressure it is going through,” he explained.

“Having said that, I will hold a press conference tomorrow to present all the matters that I would have presented and released during the impeachment trial,” he disclosed.

READ: Trillanes: I asked Luistro to drop me as witness in Duterte trial

In a press briefing after the trial on Thursday, counsel for the prosecution Lorna Kapunan said that while they do not know what Trillanes will be stating, it will be more freewheeling for him to state his concerns during a press briefing, than in a trial.

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Kapunan believes that Trillanes not serving as a witness means that he is not covered by the sub judice rule.

The sub judice rule under Rule 18 prevents senator-judges, lawyers from the prosecution and the defense, the respondent, and the witnesses from making statements that delve on the merits of the case.

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“Maybe it would be better that the presentation is made out of court,” Kapunan noted.

“It may be in fact more exciting because he will not be covered by the sub judice rule. So you can ask him anything and everything,” the prosecution counsel stated the advantage.

Earlier, Luistro manifested before the Senate Impeachment Court that the prosecution will no longer call Trillanes as the prosecution’s witness for Article II of the Articles of Impeachment.

“The prosecution has finally decided not to present former Senator Sonny Trillanes,” she told the senator-judges. 

“We seek the kind indulgence of the honorable impeachment court for the belated final decision on this particular concern,” Luistro said.

READ: Luistro: Trillanes will no longer be presented as witness

Article II contains allegations that Duterte has unexplained wealth and failed to declare this in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).

It is not clear what pressure Trillanes was referring to, but several netizens, including vlogger and lawyer Jesus Falcis, said that there were individuals who were against the presentation of the former senator.

Trillanes has been seen as a crucial witness to establish a case for Article II.

He had been saying, for several years now, that Duterte and members of her family — including her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte — had hidden bank accounts not stated in her SALN.

On April 22, when the House committee on justice held confirmatory hearings on the two impeachment complaints against Duterte, Trillanes was called as a resource person, to shed light on his claims of hidden bank accounts.

Trillanes presented several bank accounts during the April 22 hearing.  

Later on, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), through Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura, confirmed that many financial transactions mentioned by Trillanes were the same fund movements that the council had flagged or monitored.

The confirmation came after Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima randomly picked 18 financial transactions listed in Trillanes’ annexes, and asked AMLC to check if this was part of its investigation.

READ: Trillanes vindicated: AMLC confirms Sara Duterte’s 18 transactions 

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Eventually, Buenaventura confirmed that 18 out of all the 18 randomly-picked transactions in Trillanes’ annexes matched the AMLC’s records. /apl