Second hostile witness expected in Duterte impeachment trial

Metro Manila, Philippines – The House prosecution panel expects Vice President Sara Duterte’s former special disbursing officer (SDO) for her confidential funds as education secretary to also be declared a hostile or unwilling witness by the Impeachment Court, allowing prosecutors to ask more pointed questions. 

“Based doon sa naging ruling ng presiding officer when he qualified Ms. Acosta as a hostile witness, we think the same will hold true for Mr. Fajarda,” private prosecutor and counsel Jay Tolosa told NewsWatch Plus in an interview on Thursday, August 20. 

He was referring to Gina Acosta, former SDO of the Office of the Vice President, and Edward Fajarda, who served as SDO for the Department of Education when Duterte was its secretary. Both still work for Duterte as OVP staff. 

On Day 16 of the impeachment trial on Monday, Aug. 17, Presiding Officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero granted the prosecution’s motion to declare Acosta a hostile witness, allowing private prosecutor Amando Ligutan to ask leading questions.

Ligutan argued that, apart from her close ties to Duterte as a trusted aide, Acosta had also submitted a sworn statement saying that the vice president did not misuse confidential funds, a position contrary to the allegations in the Articles of Impeachment.

Escudero said Acosta is also co-terminous with Duterte, meaning she may lose her job if the vice president is impeached, before declaring her a hostile witness.

“Without preempting the presiding officer’s decision on this, sa tingin namin he (in our view, Fajarda) will also be considered a hostile witness for the same reasons,” Tolosa said. 

He said what’s certain is that the prosecution will move to declare Fajarda a hostile witness.

Fajarda has been summoned to appear in the impeachment trial next week. He allegedly encashed ₱112.5 million in DepEd confidential funds in 2023, which the prosecution alleges were misused, along with the ₱500 million in OVP confidential funds.

During Monday’s direct examination, Acosta admitted that in December 2022, Duterte ordered her to turn over ₱125 million in OVP confidential funds to Col. Raymund Lachica, then head of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group.

State auditor Xylene Mae del Campo earlier pointed out the irregularity in the transaction, noting that Lachica was not a disbursing officer.

Tolosa said the prosecution will assess the need to subpoena Lachica, depending on the testimonies of Acosta and Fajarda.

“So tulad ng ginagawa namin sa mga nakaraang pagdinig, pagkatapos namin mag-presenta ng testigo, nagkakaroon kami ulit ng assessment, deliberations para masuri namin ano na ba ang mga evidentiary targets na na-hit na namin o napatunayan na namin sa aming estimation? At ano pa ang mga importanteng bagay na kailangan pa namin patunayan,” Tolosa said. 

[Translation: As we have done in the previous hearings, after presenting a witness, we conduct another assessment and deliberation to determine which evidentiary targets we have already hit or, in our estimation, established, and what other important matters we still need to prove.]