Trillanes to Testify in VP Duterte Impeachment Trial

MANILA, Philippines — Former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV is expected to testify in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, where he is slated to discuss the findings of his own investigation into her alleged unexplained wealth, Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V said in a statement on Wednesday. Ortega, a member of the House prosecution panel, declined to announce the order in which prosecution witnesses would be called to the witness stand for the second impeachment article. He noted that Trillanes’s long involvement in examining the family’s finances would make his testimony a vital part of this article. Public prosecutor Rep. Joel Chua recalled that House lawmakers had checked some documents presented by Trillanes against the bank transactions flagged by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). According to Chua, Trillanes had raised questions about the Duterte family’s finances long before the trial and had previously appeared as a resource person before the House Committee on Justice. The handling prosecutors, he said, would determine the testimony they needed from him. "Yes, the testimony of Senator Trillanes will be valuable," Chua said. During an April 22 House hearing, AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura confirmed that 18 selected entries from Trillanes’s materials had similar transactions in AMLC reports, based on dates and amounts checked. Chua also outlined the witness plan for Article II after discussions with fellow prosecutors Reps. Terry Ridon of Ako Bicol Party-list and Chel Diokno of Akbayan Party-list, who are handling the unexplained wealth presentation. The initial estimate for witnesses, excluding bank officials, was around 10. Besides Trillanes, other witnesses would include officials from the Office of the Ombudsman, AMLC, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). For the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN), Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla or his representative is expected to appear. Chua said agency heads could appear themselves or send authorized representatives. He later clarified that up to 15 bank representatives might be affected by agreements on records, potentially bringing the total number of witnesses to around 25. However, Chua stressed that this number could still decrease as prosecutors assess whether their points have been established and if further testimony would be repetitive. The hearings on unexplained wealth are scheduled to begin on September 14, but Chua did not identify the first witness. Information Source: Inquirer NewsInfo