MANILA, Philippines — The prosecution panel of the House of Representatives is evaluating whether or not an aide of Vice President Sara Duterte should be called in as a witness at her impeachment trial, one of its members said.
Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon issued the statement after Col. Raymund Dante Lachica said he was ready to “tell the truth, subject to applicable laws and security restrictions,” should he be subpoenaed by the Senate impeachment court.
“In the coming days, the prosecution will decide whether it is still necessary to subject Col. Raymond Lachica to the proceedings regarding the vice president, especially since Gina Acosta herself pointed out that it was the vice president who ordered her to turn over the entire P125 million in confidential funds to Col. Lachica,” Ridon told reporters in Filipino.
“This was the primary point that needed to be proven for this Article—and it has already been established: the Vice President’s misuse of confidential funds, which are public funds,” he added.
Lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro noted that Lachica, former commander of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group, remains in the prosecution’s list of witnesses but that the panel has not yet reached a consensus regarding summoning him to the witness stand.
Instead, the House panel requested the Senate impeachment court to issue a subpoena to three Armed Forces of the Philippines officials — Col. Manaros Boransing II, Col. Magtanggol Panopio, and retired Maj. Gen. Adonis Bajao as their next set of witnesses in the trial.
They will testify on the AFP certifications allegedly issued to justify the spending of P15 million worth of the Department of Education’s confidential funds in 2023.
Prosecution counsel Benjamin Tolosa, on the other hand, reiterated that the panel's non-committal attitude over calling Lachica did not mean they were afraid to put him on the witness stand.
Prosecutors are simply evaluating the pros and cons of putting another hostile witness on the stand, Tolosa said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Lachica said he has “never refused to appear or testify; if lawfully called."
"I am prepared to tell the truth, subject to applicable laws and security restrictions,” Lachica said in a statement.
Lachica as repeatedly mentioned during the testimony of former Acosta, special disbursing officer for the Office of the Vice President, who testified at the trial that Duterte ordered the release of P125 million in confidential funds to Lachica.
