Trillanes to Escudero: Focus on evidence, not technicalities in Sara Duterte trial

Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV urged Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero to prioritize the presentation of evidence over technicalities in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Trillanes made the remarks a day after the prosecution dropped him from its list of witnesses. He later said he was the one who asked the prosecution to remove his name, saying he felt unwelcome before the Senate impeachment court after Escudero declined to issue him a subpoena.

“Iyong presiding officer lang naman ’yung nagtitimon. So kung boring ’yung impeachment trial, it’s the fault entirely of the presiding officer. Kapag tinrato mo itong parang criminal court, ganyan ang mangyayari,” Trillanes said.

(It is the presiding officer who calls the shots. If the impeachment trial becomes boring, that's on him. If you make it akin to a criminal court, that is what will happen.)

“Mahigit 30 na kaso na rin ang kinaharap ko eh. I have lived it; it can be boring talaga. But that should not be the case for the impeachment court. Dapat hinahanap nila 'yung katotohanan. Hindi naman ito criminal trial na may kulong," Trillanes added.

(I have faced around 30 cases myself, and the trial could get boring. But the impeachment court should search for the truth. This is not a criminal trial, where the punishment is jail time.)

Trillanes then reiterated his previous position that it should be Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian who should be the presiding officer for a more understandable approach on issues at hand.

“That is why I was pushing for Senator Sherwin as presiding officer because he has a layman mindset. But they were saying that it has to be a lawyer. No, we don’t need a lawyer here,” Trillanes said.

“Kailangan lang dito may bukas na pag-iisip na kailangan hanapin yung katotohanan. Ganoon lang po yun,” Trillanes added.

(What we need is someone who is willing to search for the truth. It is that simple.)

Trillanes cited the recent deferment of the presentation of Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura of the Anti-Money Laundering Council as a witness for the prosecution, with presiding officer Escudero granting the defense’s request for more time to prepare.

“Napagbotohan na nila ’yan. Nag-agree na sila diyan. Kung objective ang presiding officer, tapos na yan. Present niyo na yan. Tapos may kopya na sila. Kailangan [raw] nila (defense) ng oras. Parang sounds reasonable, right? Pero hawak na nila ‘yung mga dokumento na ’yon weeks before. Pero kinatigan sila ng presiding officer,” Trillanes said.

(They already voted on it that the presentation of AMLC, bank records are allowed. The witness from AMLC should have presented already. Both parties already have copies of these. The defense said they needed time. It sounds reasonable, but they already have the documents way back. And yet the presiding officer ruled in their favor.)

“E di nagsayang ng isa't kalahating araw. So bantayan nyo yung presiding officer. That's what I'm saying. Tingnan nyo. Kung boring, problema niya ‘yun,” Trillanes added.

(A day was wasted. So you should keep watch on the presiding officer. Observe keenly. If it gets boring, that's on him.)

The prosecution is presenting evidence for Article 2 of the impeachment case against the Vice President, which alleges unexplained wealth stemming from her purported failure to truthfully disclose her assets in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) and to divest from businesses, as required of the President and Vice President under the Constitution. —LDF, GMA News