THE House prosecution on Sunday said the defense ultimately reinforced, rather than undermined, the testimony of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent John Mark Calilung, arguing that its cross-examination failed to discredit either his qualifications or the authenticity of the prosecution’s key video evidence.
Calilung was the prosecution’s first witness, authenticating video recordings and other digital evidence related to Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s alleged statement that she had contracted a hitman to kill President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez if she herself were killed.
House prosecution spokesperson and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the defense ended up strengthening Calilung’s credibility by relying on the very evidence he had authenticated.
“In fact, mas pinalakas nila ang testimonya ni Mr. Calilung bilang competent witness dahil siya ang naatasan ng NBI na mag-collate, mag-preserve at mag-authenticate nitong two-hour video na ito, kung saan portion po doon sa video ’yung nagbanta ang Bise Presidente na ang sinasabi niya, may nakausap na siya,” Alonto Adiong
told veteran broadcaster Milky Rigonan’s Isyung Pambayan over dzRH in an interview.
He said the defense questioned Calilung’s expertise during cross-examination but never succeeded in disputing the authenticity of the recordings.
“Hindi nabutasan ang testimonya ni Mr. Calilung. In fact, ’yung pinresenta pong mga videos ng prosecution, ’yun din ho ang ginamit ng defense,” Alonto Adiong said.
“Samakatuwid hindi nila na-refute ito na manufactured o doctored kasi gumamit din po sila doon mismo sa video na piniresenta ng House prosecution panel,” he added.
According to Alonto Adiong, the defense instead shifted its focus from challenging the evidence itself to arguing that Duterte’s remarks were justified by the circumstances surrounding them.
“Ang ginawa na lang po nila ay hindi nila na-refute ang authenticity ng video. Hindi nabutasan ang testimonya ni Mr. Calilung. Instead gumawa na lang po sila ng rason na sabi nilang justification o ang konteksto o ang premise,” he said.
Alonto Adiong maintained that no circumstance can justify threatening another person’s life.
“Wala pong sapat na konteksto o justification para magbanta ang isang tao sa kapwa-tao niya,” he said.
He added that Calilung successfully established before both the Senate impeachment court and the public that the evidence had been properly preserved and authenticated.
metrosundaily
