Trillanes calls out Escudero over strict handling of VP Sara’s impeachment trial

Trillanes was supposed to testify about the unexplained wealth of the Vice President and the rest of the members of the Duterte family, including former president Rodrigo Duterte.

But on Thursday, Rep. Gerville Luistro, one of the members of the prosecution panel, informed the Impeachment Court they are withdrawing his name from the list and said they will no longer present him as a witness in the impeachment trial.

Later that day, Trillanes said he requested Luistro to remove his name from the list so that the “prosecution panel would be relieved of the pressure it is going through.”

During the press conference on Friday, Trillanes pointed out Escudero had issued a subpoena on all prosecution witnesses except him, despite the latter knowing that he is already at the Senate ready to be presented as a witness.

“My name was there last week. Dumating yung mga subpoena, ako lang yung wala (The subpoenas were served, I was the only one who had no subpoena),” Trillanes said.

“Meron bang ganyang power yung Impeachment Court (Does the Impeachment Court have that kind of power)? May power ba yung Presiding Officer, huwag muna ito. Ganito… yun ang tanong (Does the Presiding Officer have that power to say not this. It should be this way, that’s the question). They don’t have that power,” the former lawmaker pointed out.

“Kasi diskarte ng prosecution ito eh. Do not second guess ano ite-testify niyan, pakinggan mo muna. Di ba? (It’s the prosecution panel’s strategy. Do not second guess what they will testify. Listen to it first, isn’t it right)?” he asked.

“But just as I said, at the proper time we will deal with this people. Pero not at this time, kasi focus tayo sa mission natin. Let’s get that conviction done,” he stressed.

Nevertheless, he said, the public should not blame the prosecution panel if the trial has become boring.

“Yung mga senator-judges nakikita niyo nakaupo lang, isa lang naman eh. Yung presiding officer lang naman yung nagti-timon. So kung boring yung impeachment trial it’s the fault entirely of the presiding officer (You see the senator-judges are just there sitting and only one is controlling the process. So if the impeachment trial is boring, it’s the fault entirely of the Presiding Officer),” Trillanes said.

Trillanes noted that Escudero has been treating the impeachment procedures like a criminal court, which it is not.

“Kapag trinato mo itong parang criminal court, ganyan ang mangyayari dun. Kasi I’ve been to more than 30 cases na hinarap ko nakita ko yan, it can be boring talaga. So ganun yun. Hindi nga yun ang intention, dapat hinahanap nila yung katotohanan (If you  treat this like a criminal court, it’s really bound to be boring. Because I’ve faced more than 30 cases and I saw that it can really be boring. But that’s not the intention, you should be looking for the truth),” he said.

“Kaya nga I was pushing noon si Sen. Sherwin (Gatchalian) na lang ang mag-preside para layman yung mindset niya. Kaso kailangan ipilit na kelangan daw abogado (That’s why I was pushing back then that Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian should be the Presiding Officer, because he has a layman mindset. But they were insisting that it should be a lawyer),” he added.

“Hindi, hindi kailangan ng abogado dito. Kailangan dito may bukas na pag iisip na kailangan hanapin yung katotohanan. Ganun lang po yun (No. No we don’t need a lawyer as a presiding officer. We need one who has an open-mind and is also looking for the truth. That’s all it is),” he pointed out.

Not welcome

Trillanes also said it was clear that his presence in the trial wasn’t welcome.

“Sa akin kasi the signal is clear: Hindi ako welcome. And by the way, hindi ito collective na parang sinasabi kasi ayaw daw ako ng mga senador. Inisa-isa natin ‘yung mga naabutan natin dun. Hindi naman sila nakonsulta kaya next time na may magsabi na kasi may mga ano yung mga senador, don’t swallow it right away ( For me the signal is clear: I’m not welcome. And by the way, this isn’t a collective sentiment.

There were comments that senators do not like me. I asked my former colleagues, and they said they were not consulted. So next time someone says senators don’t like me, don’t swallow it right away),” he pointed out. — Hannah L. Torregoza