MANILA — The defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio said it is fully prepared to confront a prosecution witness expected to testify about the vice president’s alleged communication with an assassin or hitman, even as prosecutors have yet to disclose the witness’ identity.
Defense spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa said their legal team is unfazed by the planned presentation of the so-called “surprise witness,” stressing that they are prepared to rigorously cross-examine whoever the prosecution presents during the impeachment trial.
“Inaabangan namin kung sino ‘yung testigo na ‘yun. Definitely from what we know, we will be ready to cross-examine whoever that witness is,” Poa said in an interview on the Bilyonaryo News Channel’s Memo with Korina.
Poa said it is not unusual in legal proceedings for prosecutors to temporarily withhold the identity of a witness before trial, adding that the defense has dealt with similar situations in the past.
“Hindi naman natin pa kilala kung sino ‘yun but definitely handa naman tayo. Kahit naman sa regular court proceedings nangyayari ‘yung mga ganyan. It’s not as if we don’t have experience with things like that,” he said.
He explained that procedural rules allow prosecutors to reserve the identity of a witness for security reasons, as long as the intended purpose of the testimony is disclosed in pretrial submissions.
“In our pretrial briefs… we are allowed to leave reservations. Ibig sabihin, hindi ko muna ilalagay ‘yung pangalan [ng witness] pero ilalagay ko ‘yung purpose… for the security of witnesses,” Poa said.
According to Poa, both the defense and prosecution have agreed on a disclosure timeline requiring the prosecution to identify the witness at least five days before the testimony is presented in court.
“Ang hiningi lang namin sa prosecution, which they agreed to, is disclosure at least five days prior to presentation para makapaghanda kami at para makapaghanda rin naman ‘yung mga senator-judges natin,” Poa said./PN
