Davao City accountant warned of contempt for being 'evasive' in impeach trial

Senator-judges on Tuesday called out Davao City accountant Vingelin Bajan, a witness fielded by the defense, for supposedly being evasive and taking a long time to respond to questions being asked during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

On Day 41 of the trial, Senator-Judge Raffy Tulfo criticized the witnesses being presented by the defense, saying they seemingly lack respect for the impeachment court.

According to Tulfo, Bajan, in particular, is seemingly being “very evasive” to a very simple question.

“Kahapon, ‘yung isang witness, patawa-tawa. Ngayon, ito, very evasive, nagmamang-maangan. Bakit hindi kaya natin ma-contempt itong mga ‘to nang sa gayon magkaroon ng respeto sa impeachment court, Mr. Presiding Officer?” Tulfo asked.

(Yesterday, one of the witnesses was just laughing. Now, this one is being very evasive, pretending she does not know anything. Why don’t we cite these individuals in contempt so there would be respect for the impeachment court, Mr. Presiding Officer?)

“Kasi sa nakikita ko, wala silang respeto sa impeachment court. Dine-disregard nila the fact na we can do something dito sa kanilang pag-maang maangan, sa kanilang pagtatawa-tawa. Siguro kailangan na, it’s about time magkaroon tayo ng sample,” he added.

(Because, from what I can see, they have no respect for the impeachment court. They are disregarding the fact that we can take action regarding their feigned ignorance and their mockery. Perhaps it’s about time that we make someone an example.)

The witness was being asked to identify if it was her signature on a document presented by the prosecution, and answer whether she was a former partner of accounting firm Ampil, Elises, Ciudadano & Co CPAs that was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2003.

Bajan said she only had to refresh her memory that was why she was taking a while to answer.

Escudero, meanwhile, said that his patience is “wearing thin,” considering the repeated answers of the witness that she could not remember details or is not familiar with documents presented by private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia.

“Ms. Evan, wala naman pong sinasabi si Atty. Mae na may ginawa kayong iligal per se. Wala naman po kayong nilalabag na batas kung naging bahagi kayo niyan,” the presiding officer said.

(Ms. Evan, Atty. Mae is not suggesting that you committed any illegal act per se. You would not be violating any law simply by having been a part of that firm.)

“Hihingi ako ng paumanhin, Ms. Evan. Kung naging bahagi ka ng isang accounting firm, accountant po kayo, mahirap naman siguro makaligtaan ‘yun sa propesyonal niyong karera,” he added.

(I apologize, Ms. Evan. Given that you were part of an accounting firm and that you are an accountant, it seems unlikely that you would forget such details in your professional career.) —VAL, GMA News