Vice President Sara Duterte’s legal team expressed strong satisfaction with the third day of her impeachment trial, claiming they successfully met their strategic objectives during the cross-examination of the prosecution’s chief witness.
Defense spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa praised the legal team’s execution, giving special recognition to Atty. CJ Narvasa for his performance on the Senate floor.
“We’re very happy with our performance today. Also, I’d like to of course thank my co-counsel, Atty. CJ Narvasa, who we feel did a really good job sa kanyang cross-examination. We had targets for today and we can confidently say that we were able to achieve those targets,” Poa stated.
According to Poa, the defense focused its cross-examination on uncovering the scope of the official investigation, challenging the context of the video evidence submitted by the House prosecution, and dissecting the technical methods used in the digital authentication process.
“Marami kaming gustong lumabas. For example, yung extent of the investigation na ginawa. At yung ibang parts ng video that we can context, for example. And then also yung nature ng aking digital investigation, kung saan ba talaga yun, kung may isa pang mga una, etc.,” he elaborated.
Poa declined to comment on the broader legal implications of their strategy, noting that the defense prefers to focus on establishing facts while the trial is actively underway.
The third day of the proceedings wrapped up with the defense focusing its efforts on questioning the procedural handling and verification of video recordings. These recordings allegedly capture the Vice President making threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.