VICE President Sara Z. Duterte’s camp cannot dismiss the prosecution evidence as weak while simultaneously protesting that she needs another opportunity to answer the same allegations, according to a House private prosecutor.
House private prosecutor and legal spokesperson Atty. Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. pointed to what he described as an inconsistency in the defense response to the withdrawal of three impeachment articles.
“Well, una, parang medyo inconsistent ’yan sa sinasabi ng vice president sa kanyang mga statements na mahina naman ang kaso ng prosecution, and at the same time, now they’re complaining na kailangan niya itong sagutin. So which is which?” Tolosa asked.
The defense has objected to the withdrawal of charges after prosecution witnesses had already testified, arguing that Duterte should also have been allowed to formally present evidence on the same accusations.
Tolosa countered that Duterte’s lawyers were able to challenge prosecution witnesses as they testified during the trial.
“But more importantly, hindi accurate to say that they did not have an opportunity to challenge the evidence that we presented,” Tolosa stressed.
“Lahat ng testigo natin dumaan naman sa cross-examination, na minsan mas matagal pa ang cross kaysa sa direct.”
He also pointed to an earlier proposal for the prosecution and defense to alternate their evidence presentations article by article rather than wait for prosecutors to complete the entire case.
“Pangatlo, alalahanin natin, noong July, binigyan na sila ng pagkakataon na mag-present ng evidence. Hindi kailangang tapusin lahat ng articles; it’s going to be on an article basis, magsasalitan kami,” Tolosa recalled.
“We agreed to that. They declined. So they had the opportunity and they didn’t want to.”
Tolosa further maintained that Duterte had not offered detailed answers to many of the allegations even before the prosecution decided to withdraw the three articles.
“Wala rin ho siyang mga sagot dito sa usapin ng grave threats, bribery, confidential funds—puro general denials and technicalities ang ginagawa nila, pumupunta sa supreme court trying to have this junk, itong impeachment, for technical grounds,” Tolosa said.
He also recalled that prosecutors considered calling Duterte herself as a witness during the proceedings.
“Nung sinabi namin na meron kaming intention na ipatawag ang vice president, they were raising objections to it,” Tolosa added.
metrosundaily
