HOUSE prosecution spokesperson Zia Alonto Adiong questioned Thursday whether or not Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense was avoiding witnesses without personal or professional ties to her, after changes in its planned presentation of bank officials.
“Personal ko na observation ito,” the Lanao del Sur 1st District representative said at the post-trial prosecution briefing. “I think takot sila na may presenta ang witness na neutral,” he added.
Alonto Adiong argued the relationships of several defense witnesses deserved scrutiny when the Senate impeachment court assessed their testimony. He contrasted those ties with the prosecution’s reliance on government and financial records.
“Kasi credibility is important to derive into truthfulness, to determine the truthfulness of a testimony,” he said.
The defense witnesses heard this week have included local government officials, corporate counsel and people familiar with Carpio’s credit card purchases. Alonto Adiong cited appointments, work for companies linked to Duterte and personal friendship as reasons to examine possible interests.
“Itong bago naman po ay avid supporter ng vice president at kaibigan ni Mans Carpio,” he said.
During Thursday’s cross-examination, Anel Martin Antero acknowledged friendship with Duterte, support for her and legal work on cases filed against her. He also said he was part of Carpio’s firm, received compensation for professional services and treated him like a brother.
Prosecutor Virgil Ligutan examined those relationships alongside social media material showing support for Duterte. The inquiry concerned the witness’s credibility and his account of a group dinner charged to Carpio’s card.
Alonto Adiong said the prosecution’s own witnesses were “lahat po ito neutral, wala po pinapanigan.”
He emphasized the SALNs, income tax returns, bank records and agency documents underlying the financial case.
“Ang tao may propensity to lie but documents can never lie,” he said.
The prosecution has used those records to compare asset declarations with bank balances, investments and business interests. The prosecution said witness explanations should address the financial records examined by forensic accounting expert Alexander Cabrera.
The remarks came after the defense dispensed with a proposed BPI witness. In court, defense counsel said the witness’s intended purpose was to authenticate a letter counsel had already acknowledged writing. The presiding officer respected the defense’s decision and deferred a prosecution request to highlight other BPI material at this stage.
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