Prosecution: Photocopied NBI docs on VP Sara's threats 'good as original'

Photocopies of documents presented as evidence before the trial court, including the Senate impeachment court, are "as good as the original" based on the amended Rules of Evidence, according to Atty. Benjamin Tolosa, Jr., private prosecutor for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

“Under the new Rules of Evidence, malinaw ho ‘yan, there's a rule that we call the original document rule. Under that rule, duplicates such as photocopies are considered as originals, provided that there's no genuine issue regarding its authenticity,” Tolosa said in a press conference on Wednesday.

Tolosa made the statement in light of the defense panel’s repeated objections during Day 2 of the trial due to certain photocopied documents testified upon by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent Mark Calilung in relation to Duterte's threats against President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and his family.

EXPLAINER: Electronic copies as evidence, what the Supreme Court rules say

Tolosa was referring to the 2019 amended Rules of Evidence, which states that “a duplicate is admissible to the same extent as an original unless a genuine question is raised about the authenticity of the original or admitting the duplicate instead of the original would be unjust or inequitable.”

“Now, the defense is raising discrepancies on documents with a mark of certified true copy as against the other copy. That is not a genuine issue of authenticity that's being raised against it because it shows that aside from that stamp or that marking, they're the same. It's a faithful reproduction of the original. That is the context, there,” Tolosa maintained.

Tolosa clarified that the new Rules of Evidence treating photocopied documents just the same as the original copy is only applicable to documents presented as evidence presented before a trial court, not in ordinary transactions.

“Sa social media, maraming nagkomento diyan sa bagay na ‘yan, na [kesho] ngayon ba ang passport, may nagsabi na puede ka na lumipad [papuntang ibang bansa], dala mo ang photocopy ng passport? Hindi ho ganun ‘yun,” Tolosa pointed out.

(There are those comments in social media saying that passports can now be photocopied and presented before the immigration before leaving the country. That is not what the Rules of Evidence states.)

“Ang sinabi po ni Atty. [Amando] Ligutan, iyan ho ay nakasabe sa Rules of Evidence. Hindi na kailangan na palaging original document ang ipe-presenta mo, subject to the conditions I’ve mentioned,” he added.

(What Atty. Ligutan said is these photocopies are as good as original based on the Rules of Evidence submitted to the court.)

The video of the Vice President making threats to the President and his family was allowed by the Senate impeachment court to be played and later presented as evidence for the prosecution.

The video showed the Vice President saying “Huwag kang mag-alala, Ma'am sa security ko, kasi may kinausap na ako na tao. Sabi ko sa kanya, kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta, at si Martin Romualdez. No joke, no joke. Nagbilin na ako, Ma'am. 'Pag mamatay ako, sabi ko, huwag ka tumigil ha, hanggang hindi mo mapatay sila. And then he said yes.”

(Don't worry about my security because I have already spoken to someone. I told that person that if I am killed, kill BBM, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez. I already gave instructions that if I die, don't stop until you have killed them.)

The Vice President earlier said such utterances were part of her right to exercise freedom of expression.

House Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V described the Vice President's video as a "money shot."

"The video is clear as day. It is not edited, Artificial Intelligence generated. It is an actual video with the timestamps... That [video of the Vice President], that is the money shot. We all saw it," Ortega added. —VAL, GMA News