MANILA, Philippines — Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte and former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV will join the prosecution’s next set of witnesses in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial as the panel presents evidence on allegations of unexplained wealth.
Prosecution counsel Benjamin Tolosa Jr. said Friday that the prosecution will first continue the cross-examination of Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) Division Chief Rendell Sopeña before calling Baste Duterte to testify.
Tolosa said Duterte received a subpoena last week and that the prosecution expects him to comply and appear before the impeachment court next week.
The prosecution will also present a representative from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) Regional Office XI, followed by Trillanes, a longtime critic of the Duterte family.
“We also indicated in our manifestation submitted to the impeachment court that we will call witnesses from the PhilHealth Regional Office XI and former Senator Sonny Trillanes,” Tolosa said.
After those witnesses, the prosecution plans to call a representative from the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office and Anti-Money Laundering Council Executive Ronel Buenaventura.
Trillanes previously appeared as a resource person during the House of Representatives Committee on Justice hearing on the two impeachment complaints against Sara Duterte on April 22.
During that hearing, Trillanes presented several bank accounts that he had previously linked to the vice president and her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.
The AMLC later confirmed that 18 financial transactions listed in Trillanes’ annexes matched transactions in its records.
Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, who later joined the prosecution panel, randomly selected the 18 transactions and asked the AMLC to verify them. Buenaventura confirmed that all 18 matched the council’s records.
Buenaventura had also told the House committee that the AMLC identified covered and suspicious transactions involving Sara Duterte and her relatives totaling P6.7 billion. The amount included P4.4 billion in inflows and P1.5 billion in outflows.
He explained that covered transactions involve bank transactions exceeding P500,000 that banks must report to the AMLC. Suspicious transactions refer to transactions that banks report because of concerns about the source or movement of funds, regardless of the amount.
The prosecution considers the testimonies of Trillanes and Buenaventura relevant to Article II of the Articles of Impeachment, which involves allegations that Duterte holds unexplained wealth that she did not declare in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).
The prosecution has so far presented four witnesses for Article II: Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, Office of the Ombudsman Central Records Division officer-in-charge Atty. Karen Batu, Securities and Exchange Commission Director Gerardo del Rosario, and Sopeña.
Cabotaje-Tang testified about public accountability laws and the distinctions among hidden wealth, unexplained wealth and ill-gotten wealth.
Batu testified about the authenticity of Duterte’s SALNs dating back to 2007, while Del Rosario testified about Duterte’s business interests.
