Lawyers in impeachment trial bicker over translation of Duterte’s ‘yaman’

MANILA, Philippines—Opposing counsels in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday clashed over the use of the Tagalog word “yaman” to refer to her net worth in the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

It was private prosecutor James Bryan Ibrahim Alih who mentioned the word “yaman” during his direct examination of witness Karen Batu,  the officer in charge of the Ombudsman Records Division.

“How much is the net worth—or what is the Tagalog word for net worth? Yaman? Yaman. Sorry, I’m not a Tagalog speaker, Madam Witness…” Alih asked.

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Defense Justin Nicol Gular then suggested that the private prosecutor stick to the terms used in the documents and the law being cited during the proceedings.

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But Alih took exception to Gular’s suggestion.

“I’ve given leeway to the good counsel and I’ve complied  with all his requests. But I don’t think that the good counsel can muzzle or gag the prosecution,” Alih said.

“Short of any proper or any offensive matter that I may have said, there’s nothing so far,” he noted.

The defense lawyer reminded the private prosecutor that the witness was presented to the court supposedly to identify documents. 

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“Now, here comes the counsel from the prosecution using words that are outside the documents themselves,” Gular said.

“That’s why precisely we’re asking gently and respectfully that they just use the (words) as used in the documents, Your Honor,” the defense counsel said. 

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Presiding Officer and Senator-judge Francis “Chiz” Escudero stepped in, saying he himself could not translate the word “net worth.”

He then suggested that they stick to the term “net worth” since they could not agree on its Tagalog translation.

Before this, Gular objected to Alih’s additional remarks on some of the witness’ answers to his questions.

Alih observed, for instance, that the name of Duterte’s husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, appeared in some of her SALNs but was missing in some of her declarations.

The defense lawyer objected to his remarks, prompting Alih to just proceed with his direct examination.

But Gular could not let this pass.

“No, Your Honor. We cant let this go, Your Honor. Apologies,” he told the impeachment court.

“I wanna let this go,” Alih remarked.

“No, we’re objecting to this, Your Honor,” Gular insisted. “He has been interjecting conclusions or statements after the witness has answered.”

“We, therefore, move to strike the additional statements of the counsel. Again, Your Honor, evidence should come from the witness, not from the counsel,” he told the presiding officer.

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Escudero ruled that Alih’s statements after the witness’ answer be stricken from the record. /apl