MANILA — House prosecutors have abandoned plans to call former senator Antonio Trillanes IV as a witness in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, leaving the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) chief to take center stage in the prosecution’s presentation of financial evidence involving the Vice President.
Lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro of Batangas announced the prosecution’s final decision on Day 32 of the trial Thursday, ending uncertainty over whether Trillanes would testify about bank accounts and financial transactions he had previously linked to the Duterte family.
“The prosecution has finally decided not to present former senator Sonny Trillanes. We seek the kind indulgence of the honorable impeachment court for the belated final position on this particular concern,” Luistro said.
Trillanes later issued a statement that he himself requested that he be withdrawn as witness so as to relieve the House prosecution of “the pressure it is going through.”
He said he would instead hold a press conference this Friday, October 4, and present all that he would have bared at the impeachment trial.
As recently as Wednesday, prosecutors had indicated that Trillanes was among the witnesses they were preparing to present in connection with allegations involving Duterte’s wealth and financial records.
The final decision came after Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo earlier said Trillanes should testify ahead of AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura because the former senator had previously raised allegations involving bank accounts linked to the Duterte family.
Presiding Officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero had earlier rejected the prosecution’s request for a subpoena compelling Trillanes to appear before the impeachment court.
With Trillanes out of the witness lineup, the prosecution is proceeding with Buenaventura as it builds its case under Article II of the impeachment complaint, which involves allegations of unexplained wealth, inaccuracies in Duterte’s statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, and failure to divest from business interests.
Luistro said the AMLC proceedings could take considerable time because of the volume and nature of the financial records and the anticipated questioning from senator-judges and Duterte’s defense team.
“We are expecting a lot of interjections coming from the senator judges, that is addition to the cross examination,” she said.
The House prosecution has also sought subpoenas for representatives of banks and insurance companies to testify as it expands its presentation of financial records in support of the unexplained-wealth allegations against Duterte. Around 10 banks have already submitted records in compliance with subpoenas issued by the impeachment court.
Duterte is contesting the allegations against her in the impeachment proceedings./PN
