Impeachment court OKs marking of Arturo Lascañas affidavit

The Senate impeachment court on Wednesday denied the objection of the defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte to the marking of a portion of the affidavit of self-confessed Davao Death Squad (DDS) member Arturo Lascañas as a prosecution exhibit.

Court presiding officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero made the ruling on the 13th day of the impeachment trial of Duterte.

“After considering the objections of the respondent, the objection is hereby denied,” Escudero said.

Citing Section 34, Rule 132 of the Rules of Court, Escudero said that the court shall consider no evidence which has not been presented or formally offered the purpose for which the evidence is offered must be specified accordingly.

“The marking, identification or authentication of a document does not mean that the document has been formally offered or admitted for the purpose it was so stated,” he said.

“The physical transfer of an exhibit designation from a provisional copy to its corresponding original or certified true copy is even more limited. It is a mechanical and a ministerial act intended only to maintain the orderly identification of the court’s records,” he added.

Escudero also pointed out that the transfer does not alter the substance or evidentiary status of the affidavit of Lascañas.

“It does not constitute a ruling on the authenticity, admissibility, or evidentiary weight and it does not enlarge the purpose for which the document was originally marked,” the presiding officer said.

“The respondent therefore loses no substantive or procedural right by the reason of the transfer and may raise all appropriate objections when the document is formally offered,” he continued.

He also said that the affidavit shall be admitted solely to prove that it was utilized by the NBI as an open-source lead, but not to prove the truth of its allegations.

Escudero further noted that the document remains fatally defective as it is "unsigned, unnotarized, and not made under oath."

“The transfer of the markings does not cure the defects already placed on the record. The purported affidavit remains unsigned, unauthorized, and not made under oath, with no witness having attested to its execution and truth of its contents. The contents of the affidavit at this time remain hearsay, that the transfer of the markings notwithstanding to a certified true copy of that document,” he said.

On Tuesday, lead defense counsel Sheila Sison argued that Lascañas’ affidavit—which had been read into the record by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag—was unnotarized and had not been identified by any competent witness.

Matibag previously said that the NBI looked into an affidavit of Lascañas submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which mentioned Vice President Sara Duterte's supposed hand in Oplan Tokhang.

He said the NBI Special Task Force evaluated the document as part of its investigation on the alleged "pattern of violence" by Duterte in relation to her alleged threats against President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez.

In his affidavit, Lascañas accused Duterte of orchestrating "Oplan Tokhang" in Davao City during her tenure as mayor in 2012.

Defense counsel Sheila Sison said the House prosecution panel sought to have a portion of Lascañas' affidavit marked during the motion setting a conference for the transfer of exhibit markings.

“We will not agree, and if the presiding officer allows even the pre-marking or marking of this item under this motion, then we would like our continuing objection to the allowance of the marking of this particular exhibit to be put on record,” Sison said Tuesday. — AO/RSJ, GMA News