MANILA — The removal of former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV from the prosecution’s list of witnesses was “not expected,” Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense team said on Thursday after House prosecutors confirmed that the former lawmaker would no longer be appearing before the Senate impeachment court.
The decision to no longer present Trillanes as a witness comes days after the prosecution panel hyped the former lawmaker’s possible exposes against the Vice President once he takes the stand.
“Although we didin’t expect it, we have to give due respect kung sino sa tingin nila magpapalakas sa kaso nila,” Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense counsel Michael Poa, told reporters in a press conference.
“It’s not within my ano na din para alamin pa. We really respect the fact that it is their prerogative to do so,” he said.
Counsel for prosecution Lorna Kapunan said that it was Trillanes’ “personal decision” to withdraw as a witness from the impeachment trial.
“The decision was made by himself, apparently. That is why when some of the prosecutors, we were surprised,” Kapunan said in a chance interview on the sidelines of the proceedings.
“That was his personal decision in consideration of the hesitancy of some senators,” she said, recalling that the presiding officer had earlier pointed out that the Anti-Money Laundering Council official’s testimony needed to take precedence before the former lawmaker could take the witness stand.
In a statement, Trillanes said that he has asked the prosecution “to formally withdraw [his] name as a witness.”
“This way, the prosecution panel would be relieved from the pressure it is going through,” he said.
Kapunan said she was not privy to the circumstances and pressure that Trillanes was alluding to.
The military official-turned-senator will hold a press conference outside the impeachment court on Friday, October 2.
Meanwhile, the defense said that they are still studying their options on whether they should file a Supreme Court petition questioning the impeachment court’s decision on the eligibility of senators to vote on ousting the Vice President.
This comes despite the Supreme Court’s earlier dismissal of similar petitions, in which the high court cited a lack of legal standing and premature filings by civilians.
“That’s still on the table… Pinaguusapan lang namin ng team kung dapat magfile because we also dont want to waste the Supreme Court’s time,” Poa said.
“It would be interesting to read yung mismong reason. Sa akin hindi ko pa masyadong alam yung pinang gagalingan noon so we want to look at that,” he said.
“Definitely, we want to find out the position of the Supreme Court… Sa lumabas na statement, hindi ko pa matanto.”