Duterte visits lawyers? Co says she’d do same after Defense' performance

MANILA, Philippines — Prosecution spokesperson and Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co said she understands Vice President Sara Duterte’s decision to visit her lawyers, noting that she would have done the same with the defense panel’s performance on Monday.

Co, in a press briefing on Tuesday, before the start of the impeachment trial’s second day, said that they heard and saw from interviews that Duterte was in the Senate to meet her lawyers, who were already stationed at the holding rooms.

Such a meeting is justified, and Co said they will wait and see whether that huddle will have an effect on the trial.

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“We heard that she will be here to confer with her team today. We just like to say that judging by the performance of the defense team yesterday, I too would like to confer with my team,” Co said.

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READ: Duterte on impeachment ‘bloodbath’: ‘I will be bloodied but unbowed’

When asked why she thought the defense panel gave a bad performance — especially when pundits believe it was the prosecution side that lost the first day — Co said that the opening speech from Duterte’s lawyer Sheila Sison never contended that the vice president is innocent.

“Two things that we have noted in the opening statement of the defense: One, there is no full stop claim that VP Sara is innocent. That is what we are looking for in whatever opening statement that would come from the defense,” Co observed.

“And second, the article on the death threats, which would be discussed today, was not addressed,” she recalled.

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“So, for us, since it will be the first issue to be tackled by the court, that heavy press conference – that is a glaring miss on the part of the defense, and it may be wise for VP Sara to confer with the defense team today on that matter,” she added.

Over the internet, there have been claims that the prosecution lost on Day 1, after the first clash between lead public prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, and Duterte counsel Sheila Sison.

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Before delivering her opening statement, Luistro moved that Duterte be arraigned based on several Senate rules on impeachment, including Rule No. 7, which allows an arraignment when a respondent fails to appear or submit an answer.

But Sison asked whether Luistro is already asking for an arraignment, before countering this argument by saying that Duterte is present through her counsel, as the court allowed it.

READ: Senate impeachment court denies Luistro’s bid to arraign Duterte

Sison noted that Duterte was able to file an answer to the Articles of Impeachment — something the prosecution previously deemed as a “non-answer,” as it was supposedly a rehash of arguments which failed to address the accusations against her.

Eventually, the Senate Impeachment Court thumbed down Luistro’s motion to read the Articles of Impeachment and hold an arraignment.

However, Luistro said that despite what people may think, the prosecution scored a win because seeing the proceedings roll is already a victory.

READ: Losing on Day 1? Holding impeachment trial is already a huge victory – Luistro

Prosecution team member and Akbayan party-list Rep. Chel Diokno said that it is still too early to claim that one side won, adding that the discussions focused on preliminary matters.

Diokno’s words may have been prophetic, as the prosecution was able to score big wins on Tuesday, after several motions from the defense were overruled by the Senate Impeachment Court.

One victory that the House prosecutors secured was the court’s decision to turn down defense lawyer Carlo Joaquin Narvasa’s objection to the presentation of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent John Mark Calilung.

Narvasa claimed that Calilung cannot be presented as a witness as he was not listed in the Saballa and Cabrera impeachment complaint, and in the Articles of Impeachment submitted by the House.

Private counsel for the prosecutor Amando Ligutan, who was set to cross-examine Calilung, reminded Narvasa that the Saballa complaint has lived its life already, and it only became a basis for the Articles of Impeachment submitted by the House.

Narvasa tried to object again, but presiding officer and Senator-judge Francis Escudero noted a previous Supreme Court decision which allows prosecutors to add evidence or witnesses, apart from what was included in an Information — in this case, the Articles of Impeachment.

READ: Prosec scores in bunches as Senate court denies several defense motions

That was not the important only win that the prosecution scored on Tuesday.

Hours later, the defense opposed a move to play a portion of the online press conference last November 23, 2024, where Duterte threatened President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.

Ligutan was asking Calilung to authenticate a portion of the video clip — two minutes and 18 seconds of a two hour and 10 second video — but Narvasa said that a rule requires that the entire video, if a clip will be admitted as evidence, to be played.

Ligutan, however, said Narvasa made a “misreading” of the rules, as the rules state that if the prosecution will present a portion of a video clip, the defense has the right to show the entirety of the video clip.

Tuesday’s trial focused on the allegations that Duterte threatened the Marcos couple and Romualdez, which happened during an online press briefing last November 23, 2024.

Duterte held a briefing after she visited her chief of staff, Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, who was then detained inside the House premises.

Lopez was cited for contempt by the House committee on good government and public accountability, for supposedly committing undue interference during the panel’s investigation of the alleged confidential fund misuse within Duterte’s offices.

As she was infuriated over Lopez’s detention and subsequent attempts to transfer her, Duterte badmouthed the Marcos couple and Romualdez.

At one point, Duterte was asked if she is concerned about her security; she replied by urging people not to worry since she had contracted an assassin to kill the three if she herself will get killed. /apl

READ: Sara Duterte’s kill remark vs Marcos is ‘active threat’ – Palace

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