Metro Manila, Philippines – Former Sen. Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV was not barred from testifying in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, court spokesperson Regie Tongol said Friday, Oct. 2, as he rejected the claim that the former lawmaker was “not welcome” in court.
Tongol explained that the House prosecution panel had requested subpoenas for a number of witnesses, but when prosecutor Terry Ridon identified on Monday those it planned to present that week, Trillanes was not among them.
When the prosecution later indicated that Trillanes could testify on Wednesday, there was no longer enough time to issue a subpoena for the following day, although the court said he could appear voluntarily.
Tongol reiterated that the presiding officer questioned the timing because Trillanes’ testimony was to identify bank records that had not yet been presented at that point.
“Walang pagpipigil po dahil ready naman po ang impeachment court para doon sa kanyang mga testimonya,” Tongol said.
[Translation: There was no attempt to prevent him from testifying because the impeachment court was ready to hear his testimony. ]
The prosecution eventually announced on Thursday that it will no longer present Trillanes after he decided to withdraw.
Trillanes said in a press conference the following day that “the signal is clear” and that he was not welcome in the impeachment court.
Tongol rejected that interpretation, saying the senator-judges had given no indication that Trillanes was unwelcome.
“Wala namang ganyang pakiwari yung ating impeachment court, senator-judges, kay [former] Senator Trillanes,” Tongol said.
[Translation: The impeachment court and senator-judges do not have that kind of impression of [former] Senator Trillanes. ]
“I think that would be a baseless assumption. Kasi we have to base everything on the actions of the court,” Tongol said citing Trillanes’ presence at the Senate on Tuesday, including his seat in the gallery, which according to Tongol was for VIPs.
Tongol also said that if the prosecution considers the evidence held by Trillanes important to its case, it may still call him and formally introduce those materials into the proceedings for the senator-judges to consider.
Trillanes remains listed as a common witness for both the prosecution and the defense, meaning he could still be called during the defense presentation.
