WITNESSES who reverse statements they previously gave under oath could damage their credibility and potentially expose themselves to perjury or false-testimony liability when they appear in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Counsel for the House prosecution panel and spokesperson Atty. Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. discussed the consequences as the prosecution prepares for the expected testimony of former Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) special disbursing officers Gina Acosta and Edward Fajarda, respectively.
“Kapag isang testigo, lalo na dito under oath na binigyan niya isang statement and then after a while tinawag na naman siya as a witness, bibigyan na naman siya under oath, ask about the same things, tapos different answer na yung bibigyan niya,” Tolosa said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
Acosta and Fajarda previously appeared before the House inquiry into the confidential funds and gave sworn accounts of how money under their custody was handed to security officers.
Their expected appearance before the Senate impeachment court could test those earlier statements against the documents and testimonies of witnesses from the Commission on Audit (COA) testimony already placed on record.
“Well, first, under the rules, ang sumasaklaw dyan yung rule ng prior inconsistent statement,” Tolosa said.
A prior inconsistent statement may be used to challenge a witness whose testimony materially departs from an earlier account.
“So, yung credibility niya tatamaan dyan,” Tolosa noted.
The issue could become more serious where both statements were made under oath.
“Second, syempre, since under oath pareho yan, pwede siyang managot sa perjury or, for example, false testimony,” Tolosa warned.
The prosecution said it would nevertheless wait for Acosta, Fajarda and other summoned witnesses to give their testimony before drawing conclusions about whether their accounts remain consistent.
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