A House prosecution counsel accused Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense team on Tuesday of failing to promptly arrange a meeting to review and compare records regarding the confidential fund expenses of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
The dispute stems from an August 5 directive issued by the Senate impeachment court, which instructed both legal panels to agree on a date to examine copies of OVP and Department of Education documents submitted to the Commission on Audit.
Conducted outside formal court proceedings, the comparison before the Senate Clerk of Court involves 15 boxes containing thousands of records that prosecutors plan to present regarding alleged confidential fund misuse.
During Day 14 of the Senate impeachment trial, private prosecution panel member Atty. Lorna Kapunan stated that the prosecution immediately reached out following the court’s order but received no response regarding a meeting date.
“Ito ang nangyari. Na-indian kami. Wednesday, we made a text message, ‘When do we meet? Tomorrow or Friday?’ Walang sagot noong Wednesday,” Kapunan said.
“On Thursday, we waited the whole day, ‘Kailan tayo magmi-meet? Thursday na ngayon, Friday na bukas. Our witness will be on board on Monday.’ Wala pa ring sagot the whole day of Thursday,” she added.
“At the end of Thursday, office hours, 5:38 in the afternoon, they texted to say, ‘We are available on August 14.’ This Friday. When napakalinaw naman sa directive ng presiding officer na mag-agree on a date on Thursday or Friday last week,” she recalled.
Kapunan emphasized that the defense panel failed to adhere to the timeline set by the tribunal.
“I cannot predict their tactics, but certainly this is violating the court’s order,” she noted.