Who is Engr. Jaime Adalin, the first witness of the defense?

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The defense panel on Monday began the presentation of evidence in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, with Davao City assessor Engr. Jaime Adalin first to be called to the witness stand.

Defense counsel Lindon Bacquel presented the offer of testimony for Adalin, pointing out that as a city assessor, the witness has personal knowledge of tax declarations.

Adalin said that he is a civil engineer and a real estate appraiser. He is also a resident of Cabantian, Davao City, for around 10 years now.

He said he has been working as the Davao City assessor for more or less nine years, where he is tasked with ensuring that “all laws governing real properties shall be properly executed.”

He said he is also responsible for establishing a systematic real property assessment, as well as issuing certifications pertaining to records of assessment and other relevant information.

In the offer, Bacquel said Adalin is expected to prove that the House prosecution panel’s claim that the Vice President failed to disclose the real property covered by Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) 146-2024010775 in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) was “malicious and completely false.”

Private prosecutor Benjamin Tolosa Jr., on the other hand, argued that “there is no way” that Adalin could prove that the property indicated in Duterte’s SALN was the same property covered by the subject TCT.

The prosecution likewise opposed the characterization that their position that the property covered by the TCT was not disclosed in Duterte’s SALN was maliciously and completely false.

“We take the strongest exception to this accusation, Your Honor. It cannot be said that it is completely false because just a mere facial examination of those two documents would show that there are obvious discrepancies between the two,” Tolosa said. —AOL, GMA News