Prosecutor, clerk scolded for inefficiencies in impeachment trial

MANILA, Philippines — It appears that the long hours of the impeachment trial are finally taking its toll, as both the prosecution panel and the clerk of court secretariat were scolded for some minor inefficiencies during the proceedings on Wednesday.

During the latter part of the trial, Senate Impeachment Court Presiding Officer Francis Escudero called out the assisting counsel for the prosecution for failing to be of help to public prosecutor and Cagayan de Oro Rep. Lordan Suan, who was presenting witnesses from insurance companies from which Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband Manases Carpio had purchased policies from.

Escudero said the assisting counsel should have been prepared to show the documents that the prosecution was confronting the witness with — who in this case was Manulife Head of Manage & Review Value Stream Malu Salanguit.

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“What seems to be the problem? What’s the name of the assisting counsel? What seems to be the problem? You don’t have a copy of the document?” Escudero said the assisting counsel.

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READ: Duterte impeachment trial: Who is Rep. Lordan Suan?

“If you have a copy — to abbreviate the proceedings Honorable Suan, kindly just confront the witness with your copy if your assisting counsel cannot find it, you should have prepared. The assisting counsel should have been prepared for this already,” he added.

Escudero also reminded Suan that the witness would not know which particular document he was referring to if he only mentions the marking number — as witnesses were not present when the evidence was pre-marked.

“What is the copy that the witness is looking at right now, Honorable Suan?  Again, you’re referring to an exhibit, she does not and is not familiar and aware with the exhibits that we pre-marked.  That’s why assisting counsel is there to show her the exhibit you want her to look at and identify,” Escudero said.

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“Your Honor, may I approach the witness?” Suan asked.

“Yes, kindly do so if it will help abbreviate the proceedings,” Escudero added. “Chair instructs the assistant counsel to kindly prepare the documents, the other subsequent documents for this witness and the other witnesses.”

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After the prosecution and the defense finished presenting questioning Salanguit, Escudero focused his attention to the clerk of court, as it took some time before they were able to situate Pru Life Chief Legal, Government Relations and Sustainability Officer Calvin Kohchet-Chua.

“The clerk of court, through the OSAA (Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms), is kindly instructed to, kindly situate the witness to the witness stand already and to kindly be more efficient in terms of calling the witness from the holding room, so that we don’t unduly waste time,” Escudero noted.

Since last Thursday, the Senate Impeachment Court has conducted whole-day trials, from 10 a.m. to at some points beyond 6 p.m.  However, the trial on Wednesday went past the 7 p.m. mark as the court finished hearing the testimonies of bank and insurance company representatives.

Duterte is being tried before the Senate Impeachment Court over four main allegations.  As of now, the prosecution is presenting evidence of Article II of the Articles of Impeachment, which focuses on her alleged unexplained wealth and her supposed failure to disclose these in her SALNs.

Discussions have shifted to Duterte’s bank accounts, after the prosecution’s witness, Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura, testified on Monday that the council indeed flagged several transactions involving Duterte and her relatives worth P4.4 billion.

At one point, Buenaventura testified that Duterte and her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, had made P193 million worth of unique bank transactions in just one day — on March 28, 2014.

Later on that day, Buenaventura testified that CALE88, the food company owned by Carpio that produces banana chips, got over P319,326,770.41 worth of funds from China — confirming the allegations made by former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.

On Tuesday, Duterte’s lawyers were able to secure confirmation from AMLC that there was no document showing the Chinese government’s involvement with companies that sent funds to CALE88.

READ: Defense cites no China gov’t ties to CALE88; Hontiveros says firms state-linked 

However, Senator-judge Risa Hontiveros eventually noted that her team studied the background of the two companies that transacted with CALE88 — China National Township Enterprises and the Beijing Jianweifang Food Company — revealing possible ties to the Chinese government.

Based on their research, Hontiveros said that China National Township Enterprises used to be directly under China’s Ministry of Agriculture, being a state-owned agricultural enterprise.

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Meanwhile, the senator-judge said Beijing Jianweifang Food Company is owned by the Xinjiang Fruit Industry Group, which in turn is a Chinese state-owned enterprise. /das