Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, presiding over the impeachment court, instructed the legal team of Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday, August 11, to submit marked evidence directly to the court after a planned meeting with prosecutors failed to materialize.
The directive followed complaints from the prosecution that the defense ignored attempts to schedule a court-ordered pre-trial conference intended to establish the authenticity of trial documents.
Private prosecutor Atty. Lorna Kapunan expressed frustration over the lack of communication, stating that the defense failed to honor the court’s timeline.
“Eto po ang nangyari: na-Indian po kami,” Kapunan told the court.
Kapunan argued that the defense acted in bad faith by disregarding explicit instructions to meet late last week.
“The Presiding Officer’s directive to agree on a date—specifically Thursday or Friday of last week—was very clear. That constitutes bad faith, Your Honor, because the Presiding Officer had specified those dates—Thursday or Friday of last week. Yet, the defense claim that the Presiding Officer made nothing of the sort,” Kapunan lammuted.
Addressing the situation lightheartedly before issuing a formal order, Escudero offered a quick quip.
“Hindi ka in-indian, siguro ginhost ka,” Escudero said.
Moving to resolve the standstill on Day 14 of the trial, Escudero bypassed the need for a direct meeting between the opposing legal teams by ordering the defense to submit the pre-trial materials directly to the chamber.
“But having said that…the Chair would like to request the counsels for respondent to kindly furnish the court with a copy of the marked pieces of evidence during pre-trial,” Escudero directed the defense panel.
“So in lieu of meeting, kindly just submit that, Atty. Kristine (Ferrer), so that we can do the comparison ourselves either as a Court or through the individual Senator-Judges,” he added.