Defense objects to AI simulation of P125M cash in impeachment trial

The defense counsel for Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday objected to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by the House prosecution panel to simulate the look of P125 million in cash.

In a press conference, defense team spokesperson Michael Poa explained that they have to raise concerns about the accuracy of the depiction of P125 million in confidential funds supposedly withdrawn by Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursing officer Gina Acosta in cash.

“Of course, we had to object to that because we had to ask at least for the proper basis kung bakit AI ang ginagamit (why the AI is being used),” Poa told reporters.

“We just had to really register our objection kasi syempre, alam naman natin yung AI sometimes does not really depict yung totoong itsura ng mga bagay-bagay,” he added.

(We really had to register our objection because, of course, we know that AI sometimes doesn't accurately depict the true appearance of things.)

On Day 16 of the impeachment trial, private prosecutor Amando Ligutan presented an AI-generated image to simulate what P125 million in cash looked like. It was a depiction of a thousand packs of P125,000 in P1,000-denomination bills.

The lawyer also showed another AI photo of four duffle bags filled with P125 million.

Ligutan said the prosecution team had to use AI because they “don’t have P125 million in cold cash, so [they] had to resort to technology.”

Poa, however, argued that AI-generated images could not determine the accuracy of what P125 million actually looks like.

“I think yung main concern lang talaga namin is kung accurate ‘yung nakikita kasi baka exaggerated ‘yung nakikita o kahit baka hindi exaggerated, hindi talaga ‘yun ‘yung itsura ng gustong ipakita,” the defense lawyer said.

(I think our main concern was whether what we saw was accurate because maybe it was exaggerated or maybe not. Maybe that's not really what it looks like.)

Prosecution panel spokesperson Benjamin Tolosa Jr., meanwhile, said that there was no intention on the part of the prosecution to pretend that what was shown in the photos were actual funds.

“Hindi sinasabi na ‘yan mismo [ang pera]. It was a visual representation. How it is produced is immaterial because what is being asked of the witness is katulad ba nito ‘yung nakita mo na pera? Katulad ba nito ‘yung ginamit mong mga bags kung saan mo nilagay ang pera mo? At ang sinabi naman niya kanina, may mga pagkakatulad,” Tolosa said.

(We didn’t say that that was the money. It was a visual representation. How it is produced is immaterial because what is being asked of the witness was, was it the same as the money you saw? Was it the same as the bags you used to put your money in? And she said there were similarities.)

“Pati din sa mga bundles of cash, sinabi naman niya more or less halos pareho ‘yung linapag sa kanya just to show gaano talaga kadami yung bultong-bultong pera ang pinag-uusapan natin dito na tinanggap ng OVP sa pamamagitan nito ni ni Acosta,” he added.

(Even the bundles of cash, she said, were more or less the same as the ones given to her. It just shows how much money we are talking about in that bulk of money the OVP received through Acosta.) —With reports from Llanesca Panti/LDF, GMA News