Nais ng House prosecution panel na iharap si Vice President Sara Duterte bilang "testigo" sa sarili nitong impeachment trial. Bagay na tinutulan naman ng panig ng depensa.

Ipinaalam ni private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan sa Senate impeachment court nitong Martes ang kanilang posisyon sa Day 23 ng impeachment trial ng bise presidente. Ginawa nila ito habang tinatapos ng prosekusyon ang paglalahad ng mga ebidensya para sa Article 1 ng Articles of Impeachment.

Nakasaad dito ang alegasyon na dapat ma-impeach si Duterte dahil sa mali umanong paggamit, o maling paglalaan o paglustay ng P612.5 milyon na confidential funds.

“All of these pawns and castles and horses and bishops point to only one person and that accountable person is the Vice President. In lieu of presenting 15 other witnesses, we will be presenting the Vice President herself for Article 1 of the Articles of Impeachment [on confidential funds],” ani Kapunan.

“In this game of chess, there are pawns, bishops, castles, and horses. And the most important, more important than the king, and I speak this because not of my gender, but the queen is more important than the king because the queen can move in many directions. And we have seen that. We have seen that in the evidence presented,” dagdag niya.

Sinabi rin ni Kapunan na nakalaan sa prosekusyon ang karapatan nilang iharap ang bise presidente bilang testigo sa iba pang mga alegasyon, katulad ng Article 2 na tungkol sa hindi maipaliwanag na yaman, at Article 3 tungkol sa panunuhol.

“Unless the Vice President herself appears and respects the process of this impeachment court and affirms, confirms her allegation of innocence, Your Honor…the people will never know if the prosecution's case based on witnesses and evidence will point to the Senator judges, Your Honor, exercising the lens of political neutrality, and towards the end, [if] justice will be served,” paliwanag niya.

Gayunman, sinabi ni Kapunan na hindi pa nila hihilingin sa ngayon na i-subpoena si Duterte ng Senate impeachment court.

Bilang tugon, sinabi ng lead defense counsel na si Sheila Sison, na hindi maaaring padalhan ng subpoena o “testimonial compulsion” si Duterte para piliting humarap bilang testigo sa sarili nitong impeachment trial.

Giit niya, paglabag ito sa karapatan ni Duterte sa ilalim ng Konstitusyonal, na nakasaad sa Article 3, Section 17 na nagsasabing: “No person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself No person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.”

“This right is absolute and this is not only a simple right or a statutory right. This is a fundamental right. This is a right emanating from the Constitution itself and one that emanates from the guarantees under Article 3 of our 1987 Constitution,” dagdag pa ni Sison.

Sinabi rin ni Sison na ang mga abogado nito ang kumakatawan kay Duterte sa paglilitis.

“If respondent is not interested in this trial, she would not have even sent her lawyers to defend her in this case,” aniya.

Hindi pa naglalabas ng desisyon si Senate impeachment court presiding officer Senator Francis Escudero tungkol sa hakbang ng prosekusyon. Hinihintay pa ang pormal na mosyon ng prosekusyon na humihiling sa impeachment court na maglabas ng subpoena para sa bise presidente, gayundin ang komento ng defense panel. —FRJ GMA News