Assessor's testimony weakens case vs Sara on alleged undeclared property — spox

Vice President Sara Duterte's spokesperson on Monday said testimony from a Davao City assessor's office official had undermined the prosecution's claim that a property registered under her husband's name was missing from her asset disclosures, arguing that prosecutors had failed to establish that it was undeclared.

Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr. said engineer Jaime Adalin's testimony supported the possibility that the property in Barangay Matina Crossing, Davao City, cited by prosecutors was the same one reflected in Duterte's Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).

"Ang mahalaga dito, na-declare ba o hindi?" Panelo told reporters at the Senate.

"At mukhang malinaw na na-declare," he added, citing testimony that Barangay Matina Crossing and Barangay 74-A referred to the same location.

Adalin, an official of the Davao City Assessor's Office, was presented by Duterte's lawyers as the first defense witness when the impeachment trial resumed on Monday. He testified on the identification and valuation of a property registered under the name of Duterte's husband, lawyer Manases Carpio.

Panelo said the assessed and market values reflected in the transaction documents also supported the possibility that the records referred to the same property.

"Yung transaction documents na pinakita, nagbabangga yung assessed value at saka yung market value. So mahirap naman po na iba pang property ang tinutukoy nun," he said.

‘Burden of proof’

He maintained that prosecutors had the burden of proving that the property they cited was not included in Duterte's SALN, rather than requiring the vice president to establish that it was.

"Wala namang napakita yung prosecution na ibang property," he added. "We're not dealing with possibilities here. Nasa kanila yung burden of proof."

Panelo also defended Adalin after prosecutors questioned his recollection of an official trip to China while testing his credibility as a witness.

"Ano namang kinalaman ng credibility ng isang government official kung meron siyang official trip to China?" he said, arguing that the trip was unrelated to whether the property had been declared.

He also cautioned against politicizing the issue, invoking the government's position in favor of diplomatic engagement with Beijing.

"Dapat maging consistent tayo. So, huwag natin po silang i-demonize dahil may issue na ganito, huwag nating daanin sa politika ito," Panelo said.

Wishful thinking?

Panelo also rejected House prosecution spokesperson Gerville Luistro's description of his assessment of the prosecution's performance as "wishful thinking”.

"Hindi nangangahulugan na in-admit ng korte yung mga ebidensya mo, ibig sabihin napakalakas ng kaso mo," he said.

Luistro had called Panelo's earlier claim that the prosecution had been given its chance but failed to prove its case wishful thinking, arguing that the impeachment court's admission of the prosecution's evidence showed that the documents had been accepted for consideration by the senator-judges.

The Senate impeachment court admitted the prosecution's documentary evidence, including SALNs, land titles, bank records and financial documents, on 5 November. The admission allows the senator-judges to consider the documents but does not constitute a finding that the allegations they support have been proven.