THE House prosecution panel on Saturday said the first week of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s impeachment trial successfully established the factual basis of its case, arguing that the proceedings transformed the allegations in the impeachment complaint into evidence presented before the Senate impeachment court.
House prosecutors said the presentation of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent John Mark Calilung accomplished the first objective of the prosecution’s trial strategy by placing authenticated digital evidence on record.
Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said the prosecution has now shifted from merely asserting allegations to proving them.
“We saw first week as allegations turning into evidence. Every prosecution starts with allegations and must end with proof,” De Lima said during the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.
Calilung was called to the witness stand to authenticate the video recordings containing Duterte’s alleged threats against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez.
De Lima said succeeding witnesses will reinforce the authenticated recordings, explain the significance of the evidence and present the findings of the NBI investigation.
“The first week was important because the prosecution started converting the allegations as contained in the Articles of Impeachment into evidence which was tested or which was subjected to cross-examination,” she said.
The former senator and justice secretary also maintained that the authenticity of the video recordings should no longer be in question after the defense itself used portions of the same footage during its cross-examination of Calilung.
“Para sa amin po sa prosecution, wala na pong debate diyan. Parang pinapakita nila na authentic. Bakit sila magpapakita ng part ng portions of the same video kung hindi sila naniniwala na ito ay authentic?” De Lima said.
While stressing that it is ultimately up to the Senate impeachment court to weigh the evidence, De Lima said the prosecution believes Calilung’s testimony became even stronger after surviving cross-examination.
“Wala naman pong nabiyak na anumang parte doon sa testimonya ni Agent Calilung kahit po under the crucibles or the test of cross-examination, because the cross-examination is a stress test. And therefore kapag hindi bumibigay ang ebidensya, ito ay lalong tumitibay after cross-examination,” she said.
Anakbayan Party-list Rep. Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno compared the prosecution’s approach to building a house, saying the first week of trial was devoted to constructing the foundation before presenting the rest of the structure.
“Ang trabaho ng prosecution ay parang magtatayo kami ng bahay. Hindi naman tayo puwedeng magtayo ng bahay kung walang pundasyon,” Diokno said.
He added: “‘Yung nangyari nitong unang linggo ng ating paglilitis ay mismo ‘yung paglalagay ng pundasyon sa kaso, lalong-lalo na sa Article IV. Itong mga darating na linggo, ang makikita natin ‘yung bahay na mismo ang itatayo.”
Former Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, spokesperson and adviser to the House prosecution panel, echoed that analogy, saying Calilung carried out the specific task assigned to him by establishing the evidentiary groundwork for the prosecution.
“Ang witness na ipinakilala at ipinakita dito sa trial na ito ay ang nag-lay out ng foundation,” Barbers said.
He said the panel’s succeeding witnesses, including NBI Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc, are expected to build on that groundwork by explaining the importance of the authenticated recordings and the results of the bureau’s investigation.
“Ang mga subsequent witnesses and evidence that will be presented will definitely give more strength doon sa kaso na inilatag dito sa Article IV,” Barbers said.
Barbers likewise said the defense’s use of the same recording during cross-examination reinforced the prosecution’s view that the video’s authenticity is no longer being challenged.
“Sinabi naman po ng kabilang panig na hindi ho nila ni-rebut, dinebunk, itong authenticity ng video na ito. In fact, ginamit nila ito sa kanilang pagko-cross doon sa aming witness,” Barbers said.
“And this alone gives the idea na authentic itong video dahil isang video lang ho ‘yung pinag-uusapan, isang video lang ho ‘yung ginamit,” he stressed.
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