Trillanes to testify in VP Sara Duterte impeachment trial

Former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV —INQUIRER file photo MANILA, Philippines — Former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV is expected to testify in Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s impeachment trial, where he is expected to discuss the result of his own investigation into her alleged unexplained wealth, Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V said in a statement on Wednesday. Ortega declined, however, to announce the order in which prosecution witnesses bwould be called to the witness stand for the second impeachment article. Ortega, a member of the House prosecution panel, said Trillanes’s long involvement in examining the family’s finances would make his testimony important. Article continues after this advertisement “So [with him] as a witness, we may see it will be a very vital part of this article,” Ortega said. READ: Only VP Sara Duterte can explain accusations against her Transaction flagged by AMLC Public prosecutor Rep. Joel Chua recalled that House lawmakers had checked some documents presented by Trillanes against the bank transactions flagged by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). According to him, Trillanes raised questions about the Duterte family’s finances long before the trial and had already appeared as a resource person before the House Committee on Justice. The handling prosecutors, he said, would determine the testimony they needed from him. Article continues after this advertisement “Yes, the testimony of Senator Trillanes will be valuable,” Chua said. During an April 22 House hearing, AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura confirmed that 18 selected entries from Trillanes’s materials had similar transactions in AMLC reports. Article continues after this advertisement The confirmation was based on the dates and amounts checked. Witness plan Chua also outlined the witness plan for Article II after a discussion with fellow prosecutors Reps. Terry Ridon of Ako Bicol Party-list and Chel Diokno of Akbayan Party-list, who are handling the unexplained wealth presentation. He put the initial estimate at about 10, excluding bank officials. Besides Trillanes, he said the other witnesses would be officials connected with the Office of the Ombudsman, the AMLC, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. For the statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN), he mentioned Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla or his representative. Chua said agency heads could appear themselves or send authorized representatives. READ: Prosecutors drop 15 witnesses, want to grill VP Duterte instead He later clarified how many bank representatives could be affected by agreements on the records. “Based on what I was told, 15 bank representatives,” he said. That would put the possible number of witnesses at roughly 25 if all the bank representatives were needed. Chua stressed that the number could still go down as prosecutors assess whether they had established their points and whether further testimony would repeat what is already on record. Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful. The unexplained wealth hearings are scheduled to begin on Sept. 14, but Chua did not identify the first witness. /atm