PASAY CITY, Philippines — The Senate impeachment court ruled that financial records transmitted directly to the tribunal from banking institutions may be treated as official court records, relieving House prosecutors from the lengthy requirement of authenticating each individual document during Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Prosecution panel member and spokesperson Atty. Benjamin Tolosa Jr. stated that the directive accounts for why proceedings with the second bank witness moved significantly faster on Tuesday compared to the initial witness.
“Dun sa una, dahil ayaw mag-stipulate pa on the authenticity of the documents nung defense, nakita natin how tedious it would be na kailangang isa isahin para ma-authenticate,” Tolosa explained.
“But dun sa pangalawa, kaya napakalayo nung difference at mas mabilis na itong doon sa pagsalang doon sa second witness dahil ang naging ruling ng presiding officer doon since this document came from the banks and they were submitted directly to the court,” he said, adding:
“So ang ginagamit na records yung mga court records, so these are considered already as an official record.”
The court issued the ruling after defense attorneys declined to stipulate on the authenticity of subpoenaed bank files, which had forced prosecutors to have the first witness manually verify every document before introducing it as evidence.
“Kasi nga, as I have stated, hindi naman yan galing sa amin, diretso yan doon sa mga bangko na sinusumite sa korte. So we appreciate that, and we really welcome that ruling from the court kasi nga we will be presenting at least eight bank representatives,” Tolosa pointed out.
“In fact, thirteen pa nga yung na-mention kanina na witnesses, eight banks, thirteen representatives. So kung ang mangyayari diyan tulad nung una, napakatagal ng oras na gugugulin dito. At least now mas mapapabilis tayo,” he added.
Tolosa clarified that the tribunal’s procedural ruling does not restrict the defense team from contesting specific records if they choose to challenge their validity.
“But sabi nga nung presiding officer, if the defense would want to question the authenticity of the documents, they can still do that. So meaning merong rebuttable presumption doon sa authenticity ng mga documents na to,” he added.
The prosecution continues to present evidence under Article II of the impeachment complaint, which alleges that Vice President Duterte accumulated unexplained wealth, omitted asset details for herself and her spouse from public disclosures, and maintained prohibited commercial interests during her tenure in office.