HOUSE lead prosecutor Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro of Batangas has said the defense still had a wider financial case to answer after spending its first day on a disputed Davao property, as she previewed 23 remaining witnesses in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Luistro outlined the expected lineup at the November 9 post-trial press conference.
She said the prosecution was preparing for further testimony regarding property records, banking information, and credit card transactions.
“Well, what we can expect for the rest of the week will be the presentation of the 23 remaining witnesses that will start from the city assessor of Samal, the city accountant of Davao City, the barangay captain of Matina,” Luistro said.
The court had adjourned until 10 a.m. on November 10. Its closing announcement likewise placed the Samal assessor next, followed by the city accountant and the punong barangay. These were upcoming appearances, following the completion of Davao assessor Jaime Adalin’s testimony.
Luistro also pointed to the financial witnesses. “And then we have the 16 officials of the bank,” she said.
She separately described the expected purpose of witnesses whom the defense had identified in its manifestation on credit-card records.
“It will pertain to the Nike transaction and all other credit card transactions,” Luistro said.
Luistro’s preview included a tentative Wednesday appearance by corporate counsel Atty. Suzette Balucanag-Punay, whose earlier scheduled testimony had not proceeded because of an MRI appointment. She expressed hope the presentation would go ahead. The statement was an expectation about the lineup.
The lead prosecutor returned to the scale of the allegations being pursued under the remaining unexplained-wealth article. She said the defense needed to answer the broader financial evidence presented through forensic accounting witness Alexander Cabrera.
“There’s a lot more to explain because the total undeclared, total unexplained is 817 million,” Luistro said.
Cabrera had discussed the Matina Crossing property in his report but excluded the parcel from his computed amounts. Its disputed purchase figures therefore formed a separate reconciliation question. The P817-million estimate covered the prosecution’s wider analysis and wasn’t the parcel’s value.
Luistro said the first day’s property discussion fell short of the substantial response she had expected from the defense after the trial break.
“I thought that they’d be coming up with more explosive, more substantial instead of piecemeal witnesses after a long wait for this presentation of the defense’s evidence,” she said.
metrosundaily
