Trillanes unwelcome? A baseless assumption, says impeachment court spox

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Former senator Sonny Trillanes claiming that he was not welcome to the Senate impeachment court is a “baseless assumption,” spokesperson Atty. Regie Tongol said Friday.

“Wala po, kasi wala naman pong ganyang pakiwari ang impeachment court at senator-judges kay former senator Trillanes. In fact, the fact na nakapasok nga siya nung Tuesday na nandun po siya at nakaupo po siya doon sa aming gallery kung saan ay nakalaan po iyon sa mga very important persons,” Tongol said in a press briefing.

(There is none, there is no sentiment like that from the impeachment court and the senator-judges regarding former senator Trillanes. The fact that he was able to come in last Tuesday and was able to sit in the gallery, which is designated for very important persons.)

“Walang ganoon na pinakita sa kanya ang impeachment court so I think that would be a baseless assumption kasi we have to base everything on the actions of the court,” he added.

(The impeachment court did not show anything like that to him so I think that would be a baseless assumption because we have to base everything on the actions of the court.)

Trillanes was among those named by the prosecution as their witness in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte but the impeachment court did not issue a subpoena for him.

The House prosecution panel said Thursday that they will no longer present the former senator as witness. Later in the day, Trillanes said it was he who asked the prosecution panel to withdraw his name

In a press conference Friday, Trillanes questioned why the impeachment court did not issue him a subpoena to testify for the prosecution.

"Sa akin kasi the signal is clear, hindi ako welcome. And by the way, hindi ito collective na parang sinasabi kasi ayaw daw ako ng mga senador. Inisa-isa natin 'yung mga naabutan natin doon. Hindi naman sila nakonsulta kaya next time na may magsabi na kasi may mga ano yung mga senador, don't swallow it right away,” he added.

(For me, the signal is clear: I was not welcome, but this is not a collective sentiment. There were comments that senators do not like me. I asked my former colleagues, and they said they weren’t consulted. So next time someone says senators don’t like me, don’t swallow it right away.)

Tongol explained that last Monday, Trillanes was supposed to be issued a subpoena. When the prosecution was asked who was going to be issued a subpoena, House prosecutor Terry Ridon did not mention the former senator.

The day after that, the prosecution mentioned that they wanted Trillanes to take a seat, but impeachment presiding officer Chiz Escudero could not issue a subpoena for the next day.

However, they could still have Trillanes as a voluntary witness. The presiding officer then warned the prosecution that they may be putting the cart before the horse, according to Tongol.

“Wala pa naman, at that time, na humingi sila na uupo na si former senator Trillanes, wala pang nape-presentang bank records noong panahon na 'yun, nung Tuesday,” Tongol said.

(At the time they were asking for former senator Trillanes to take a seat, no bank record has been presented yet.)

Tongol welcomed any criticisms from Trillanes regarding the court’s handling of the impeachment process, saying it is his freedom to do so. —AOL, GMA News