Ghosted? Prosecution hits Defense for 'snubbing' meeting for comparison of docs

The House prosecution team on Tuesday lamented that they were allegedly stood up by the Defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte after they were directed by the Senate impeachment court last week to meet to compare documents related to confidential funds.

At the start of the 14th day of the impeachment trial, private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan made a manifestation, saying they sent messages to the Defense team to identify which day they should meet last week to compare the exhibits.

“Ito po ang nangyari--na-indian po kami (Here’s what happened—we got stood up),” Kapunan said.

According to Kapunan, the counsel for the respondent only replied to their message at 5:38 p.m. on Thursday, informing that they are available to meet on August 14, Friday.

“Napakalinaw naman sa directive ng presiding officer na mag-agree (the directive of the presiding officer is clear, that we agree) on a date on Thursday or Friday of last week. August 14, what good will that do us? The hearing is today, August 10. And they want us to appear before the clerk of court to compare documents on August 14,” Kapunan said.

“The text message is even more disturbing. Because apart from saying sa August 14 na lang, they even disclaimed the fact that this Honorable Court said Thursday or Friday last week. Wala naman daw sinabi ang presiding officer except to set a time and date mutually agreed upon by the parties. That is bad faith, your Honor,” she added.

Defense lawyer Kristine Ferrer, in response, said there is no need for the prosecution and defense to actually compare the exhibits to expedite the impeachment proceedings.

"The authenticity of the exhibits is something that the court will have to decide. And the court will only decide on that after the prosecution has already submitted their offer of evidence and that will be subject to our comment. And there’s no need for us to actually compare the exhibits just so we can arrive at a stipulation that this and that are the same," Ferrer said.

Currently on the witness stand is Commission on Audit–Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO) state auditor Xylene del Campo, a witness presented by the prosecution, who is set to testify on the alleged misuse of confidential funds by Vice President Sara Duterte.

Ghosted?

Following the exchange between the two panels, Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis "Chiz" Escudero directed the counsel for the respondent to furnish the court with a copy of their marked evidence during the pre-trial conference within the day or tomorrow, August 12.

“In lieu of meeting, kindly just submit that, Atty. Kristine, so that we can do the comparison ourselves either as a court or through the individual senator-judges,” the presiding officer said.

Escudero also told Kapunan that she was not stood up by the Defense, rather “ghosted” in their supposed meeting.

“The chair would just like to correct. Hindi ka, Atty. Lorna, in-inindian, baka ghinost ka kasi hindi ka sinagot eh. Pero hindi ka in-inindian, wala namang pina-usapang date pa eh,” he quipped.

(The chair would just like to correct. You weren’t stood up, Atty. Lorna. Maybe you were just ghosted because they didn't answer. But you weren’t stood up because there was no date discussed yet.)

To recall, the Senate impeachment court on Wednesday directed the prosecution and defense panels to agree on a date to compare the acknowledgment receipts (ARs) submitted by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in liquidating its confidential funds.

Escudero issued the directive after ordering both parties to meet before the Senate Clerk of Court outside the trial proceedings to compare their separately marked copies of the ARs. —AOL, GMA News