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

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense counsel questioned on Monday retired Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang’s political leanings in the defense’s first cross-examination on Impeachment Article II, or Duterte’s alleged unexplained wealth.

“Are you anti-Duterte in any way?” defense counsel Mark Vinluan asked Cabotaje-Tang after establishing that former President Rodrigo Duterte did not appoint her as a Supreme Court justice despite her applying four times.

Cabotaje-Tang responded, “No, I’m not.”

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

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Vinluan pressed further, asking, “Do you like VP Sara?”

But Cabotaje-Tang said she does not know the vice president personally.

Prior to that, Vinluan also asked the former justice if she was ever disappointed in the former president, to which Cabotaje-Tang said, “No. That is his exclusive prerogative.”

Before the Duterte administration, Cabotaje-Tang was appointed as an associate justice and later as the presiding justice of the Sandiganbayan by the late former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, who campaigned against Rodrigo Duterte’s presidential bid in 2016.

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Vinluan’s questions about Cabotaje-Tang’s political alignment continued, asking whether she was a “Kakampink,” a term for those who supported the presidential campaign of former Vice President Leni Robredo in 2022 against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Duterte.

“What does that mean?” Cabotaje-Tang asked.

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“Those affiliated with pink,” Vinluan replied.

Pink was one of the campaign colors used by Robredo.

Cabotaje-Tang denied being a Kakampink, saying she’s “never been political in [her] life.” She added, “I’ve always been apolitical.”

Vinluan then rebutted, “But you’re friends with Rep. [Chel] Diokno?”

The defense lawyer was referring to Cabotaje-Tang’s subpoena to appear before the impeachment court, which was served to her through the office of House prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno.

However, Cabotaje-Tang corrected Vinluan, saying she and Diokno were “adversaries actually at the Amparo cases before the Court of Appeals.”

Cabotaje-Tang is the first witness for the House prosecution on Impeachment Article II. Earlier, the defense filed a motion seeking to exclude her as a witness, but the impeachment court allowed the retired justice to testify.

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Among the defense’s reasons was the court’s lack of knowledge about Cabotaje-Tang’s political biases. /das