Sara in the dark on Baste testimony

Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense made it clear on Sunday that she is not her brother’s keeper as Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte prepares to testify in her impeachment trial.

Sara’s legal team emphasized that it has had no contact with Mayor Duterte and it will not help prepare him for his appearance before the Senate impeachment court.

Defense deputy spokesperson Atty. Justin Nicole Gular said the team learned of Baste Duterte’s subpoena only after the prosecution submitted its manifestation to the impeachment court.

“We haven’t been in touch with him, to be honest. We’re only representing the Vice President and specifically in the impeachment. We don’t even know who will be representing Mayor Baste,” Gular said in a radio interview.

The impeachment court subpoenaed Baste Duterte to testify and produce records involving transactions between the Davao City government and Gencorp Industries Inc., a company listed among the Vice President’s declared business interests in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.

Hostile witness

House prosecution spokesperson Benjamin Tolosa Jr. said Saturday that the prosecution would ask the impeachment court to declare Baste Duterte a hostile witness.

Tolosa said the mayor was being called because of his position as Davao City mayor and the prosecution’s interest in determining whether Gencorp had dealings with the city government.

Gencorp is part of the prosecution’s Article II presentation on alleged unexplained wealth.

“We think it’s the discretion of the prosecution to decide whether they need the testimony and documents that Mayor Baste will bring,” he said.

He said the defense took the same approach when Michael Poa appeared as a prosecution witness and was later declared hostile by the impeachment court.

“For propriety’s sake, we also did not coordinate with him,” Gular said. “Really, regarding Mayor Baste, the defense team has no connection with him at all.”

Not a respondent

The subpoena covers Davao City government transactions and contracts involving Gencorp from 2020 to the present, as well as records involving establishments operating Jollibee branches in the city.

The prosecution has said Baste Duterte is being called as a witness and is not a respondent in the impeachment case.

Gular also acknowledged that the impeachment court is actively enforcing its sub judice rule after it issued show-cause orders against prosecution figures Rep. Terry Ridon and Tolosa over statements concerning the case.

He declined to comment on the merits of the orders, saying the defense had not been furnished with the grounds. “If there is anything we really want to discuss about the case, we want to do it in the proceedings themselves,” Gular said.