Tulfo hits lawyer’s ‘pa-cute’ antics

Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo on Thursday took the House prosecution panel to task over what he called unnecessary witnesses and “pa-cute” courtroom antics, as former Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV withdrew as a witness in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

“Sometimes the prosecution is calling witnesses that are not necessarily needed; we are just wasting our time. You can see some senators get sleepy, some consistently go to the comfort room because it feels useless,” Tulfo said.

“If you are going to get a witness, make sure that they have something to say that can help the ongoing investigation here in the impeachment,” he added.

The senator also recalled a recent hearing where a public prosecutor went viral for supposedly “acting cute” while questioning a witness from the Philippine National Police. He was apparently referring to Rep. Ysabel “Bel” Zamora who had responded to critics by telling them “to get a life.”

Tulfo advised the prosecution panel to be more mindful of the lawyers it assigns to present witnesses to keep the proceedings from turning into a combination of courtroom drama and an afternoon variety show.

Trillanes drops out

The admonition came as the prosecution dropped Trillanes from its witness list, although Trillanes later said it was he who asked the prosecutors to withdraw his name.

Public prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro announced the withdrawal in open court Thursday as the prosecution prepared to present further evidence concerning the alleged unexplained wealth of Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases Carpio.

“The prosecution has finally decided not to present former Senator Sonny Trillanes. We seek the kind indulgence of the honorable impeachment court for the belated final position on this particular concern,” Luistro said.

Trillanes said in a social media post that he would instead disclose his evidence at a press conference on 2 October, eliciting comments from netizens that his supposed evidence against Duterte could not stand the rigors of a full-blown legal scrutiny.

Defense spokesperson Michael Wesley Poa said the team had assigned a lawyer to handle Trillanes’s cross-examination based on the prosecution’s earlier witness list.

“We didn’t expect it, definitely,” Poa said in a post-trial briefing Thursday.

Poa said the defense had anticipated that prosecutors would change the order of their witnesses but not remove Trillanes altogether.

“They could change the order, other witnesses could go first, or former Senator Trillanes could testify later. We were at least expecting that. But we did not expect them to drop him altogether,” he said.

Still, Poa said the defense would not object to the prosecution’s decision, stressing that prosecutors have the discretion to determine which witnesses would strengthen their case.

Defense unconcerned

Trillanes’s withdrawal came after the impeachment court, which had set the next hearing for 5 October, had deferred issuing a subpoena for him while the prosecution worked out the sequence of its financial witnesses.

Poa said the defense was not concerned about the effect of Trillanes’ withdrawal on its preparations.

Trillanes had been expected to present documents and allegations he had previously brought before the House Committee on Justice during its clarificatory hearings on the impeachment complaints against Duterte.

He alleged that the Duterte family received millions of pesos from alleged drug lord Sammy Uy between 2011 and 2013, with Sara allegedly receiving P181.6 million.

Trillanes was expected to testify in connection with Article II of the impeachment complaint, which concerns allegations involving Duterte’s wealth and her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.

A P14-million transaction between Uy and Sara was verified by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) during the House proceedings, according to Trillanes.

He had also presented information concerning an alleged joint bank account of Sara and former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Tulfo said he would have preferred Trillanes to take the witness stand before any presentation by the AMLC, saying this could have helped establish or confirm the bank accounts and transactions he intended to present.