SENATOR-JUDGE Erwin Tulfo expressed frustration during the impeachment trial proceedings, telling witness Gina Acosta: “Tama na po itong panloloko sa’tin” — meaning “Enough of this deception toward us.”
Tulfo, a member of the Senate impeachment court, questioned the former Office of the Vice President special disbursing officer over her apparent difficulty answering questions in Tagalog, pointing out that she had freely conversed in the very same language during a House of Representatives hearing back in 2024.
Tulfo challenged the witness’s credibility by reading portions of the official House transcript, showing that Acosta had responded comfortably in both English and Tagalog on that earlier occasion. “She is a government official. She does not know what ‘discretionary’ means? Here she was answering in both English and Tagalog,” Tulfo emphasized. He implied that her claimed language barrier in the current trial appeared to be a deliberate strategy to delay or evade straightforward answers.
The exchange highlighted growing tensions over the consistency and transparency of testimony regarding confidential funds and disbursements. By confronting the witness with her own prior statements, Tulfo sought to demonstrate that the confusion she claimed in the Senate was inconsistent with her demonstrated fluency and familiarity with the subject matter elsewhere. The sharp rebuke underscored the Senate’s expectation that witnesses should answer directly and honestly, without relying on evasive tactics to avoid accountability.
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