MANILA, Philippines — Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo on Thursday suggested that former senator Antonio Trillanes IV testify before officials of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
The Senate impeachment court resumed its examination of the prosecution’s evidence for Article II of the Articles of Impeachment, which accuses Duterte of having unexplained wealth and allegedly failing to properly declare her assets and financial interests.
During the 32nd day of the impeachment trial, Tulfo said it would be more appropriate for Trillanes to testify first because his testimony concerns bank account information he had obtained and presented in previous proceedings.
“If former senator Trillanes is going to be called as a witness, it would be better for him to testify first before the AMLC. What Mr. Trillanes will say concerns the bank accounts and information he obtained a long time ago,” Tulfo said.
Lead Prosecutor Gerville Luistro of the House of Representatives said the prosecution’s first witnesses on Thursday would be two officials from the Land Registration Authority (LRA).
AMLC Executive Director lawyer Ronel Buenaventura is scheduled to testify in the afternoon.
The House prosecution has asked the impeachment court to subpoena Trillanes to testify on Article II. The former senator is expected to discuss financial information and allegations he previously raised during the House impeachment proceedings that members of the Duterte family received or encashed millions of pesos worth of checks allegedly linked to a Davao-based drug personality.
Meanwhile, Tulfo criticized the House prosecution panel over what he described as poor witness selection, saying some witnesses had contributed little to the proceedings.
“Sometimes, the prosecution, I’m sorry to say, you really fumble. There are times when you bring in witnesses who are not really necessary, and we are just wasting time,” he said.
Tulfo said the prosecution should ensure that its witnesses have relevant information that could help the impeachment court assess the allegations.
“You can see that some of the senators are getting sleepy. Others keep going to the restroom because there’s nothing going on—it seems useless. So, if you are going to call a witness, make sure that witness has something to say that will actually help with the impeachment investigation,” Tulfo said.
“You even brought in someone who ended up being laughed at, just acting cute while talking to a police witness. Be careful in choosing your witnesses, and be careful in selecting the lawyers you put forward there,” he added.
The prosecution has prepared more than 1,800 financial documents for Article II and previously said it had identified as many as 25 potential witnesses.
