VP Sara Duterte trial may include hostile witnesses —House prosecutors

Several members of the House prosecution panel said on Friday that they are studying the possible presentation of hostile witnesses during the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

"When you're presenting a hostile witness, there has to be an adverse interest. So naturally, in a case like this that's adversarial in nature, the adverse interest would mean an interest that is in line with that of the other party. That means an interest that is in line with the Vice President," House impeachment prosecutor Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez of 1-Rider Party-list explained in an online interview today.

"That is definitely a possibility under consideration. As far as we understand, based on the rules of the Senate, if it's going to apply the rules of evidence suppletorily, pwede naman po yon (it is possible). So that's definitely one of the avenues we are exploring. In fact, I could think of a few witnesses that I personally would like to have as a hostile witness," Gutierrez added.

"Well, meron din. But for now, hindi pa namin po pwede i-divulge yung mga magiging legal strategy namin," Rep. Joel Chua, another prosecutor, said.

(We have, but we can't divulge our legal strategy yet.)

Gutierrez and Chua refused to identify the potential hostile witnesses but said more than one is being considered.

"We're sure that we're still exploring, but I can think of at least three to four hostile witnesses," Gutierrez said.

When asked if the said witnesses are close to the vice president, Chua replied, "Definitely."

"Pero siyempre, titingnan din naman namin kung makaka-damage ba sa amin iyong pagharap ng mga hostile witness o makakatulong sa amin," Chua added.

(We will examine if the presentation of the hostile witness will damage or help us.)

When asked if the closeness of the potential hostile witnesses to the vice president is on a personal or a professional level, Gutierrez replied, "Both would be a factor when you are going to present someone as an adverse witness. But I think more that we are leaning on professional interest."

According to Chua, the vetting of the witnesses, hostile or not, is done by the impeachment prosecutors assigned to the articles where the witnesses will be presented.

The final list of witnesses may be disclosed during the pre-trial stage.

"Without going into specifics, I guess you would say it's not final until we reach the pre-trial. We can say that the case is ready, definitely, and the witnesses would be sufficient. But of course, we want to exhaust all avenues. So we're still looking at additional witnesses pa naman po," Gutierrez said.

Chua said he was informed by House lead prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro of Batangas 2nd district that the pre-trial is scheduled on June 15.

"We are preparing for the pre-trial, where the stipulation of facts and marking of evidence will be done, as well as the determination of the number of witnesses," Chua said.

The House prosecution panel has yet to finalize the list of private prosecutors.

Only lawyer Lorna Kapunan has so far been identified by the panel.

"I would have to say that she's assisting with all articles," Gutierrez said. —LDF, GMA News