The legal team of Vice President Sara Duterte filed a reply affidavit before the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office on Monday, countering the recent claims made by Ramil Madriaga in his bid to dismiss the perjury charges against him.
Atty. Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr., counsel for the Vice President, stated that the reply serves as a direct rebuttal to Madriaga’s counter-affidavit.
Madriaga, who previously alleged he was a “bagman” for Duterte, is being sued for perjury after the Vice President categorically denied his claims.
Panelo asserted that Madriaga’s latest submission failed to provide a valid defense and instead reinforced the prosecution’s case.
“Imposible yung mga ipinapatarang ni Ramil Madriaga laban sa kanya so as expected, nung nag-file ng counter affidavit si Madriaga, wala po siyang nasagot na maayos. In fact, nung naglatag siya ng karagdagang ebidensiya eh lalo siyang nadiin kasi nadiskubre namin na nagsisinungaling nanaman siya,” Panelo said.
Addressing photos presented by Madriaga supposedly showing a close link to the Vice President, Panelo dismissed them as misleading.
He explained that the images were taken during large-scale virtual meetings with various parallel support groups, where Madriaga was merely one of nearly a hundred participants.
”Virtual meeting po yan ng isang parallel group at naimbitahan lang pong parallel group… kaya naka-attend si Ramil Madriaga, so ganung klaseng tao si Madriaga… palabasin nya yun ang prweba na insider sya,” Panelo added.
The Vice President’s camp is now considering filing additional perjury charges against Madriaga, citing further alleged inconsistencies in the supplemental affidavit he submitted to the House Committee on Justice during the ongoing impeachment proceedings.