House prosec wants Baste Duterte classified as 'hostile witness' in VP Sara impeach trial

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The House prosecution panel will be seeking the Senate impeachment court to classify Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte as another hostile witness in the impeachment trial of his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte.

“We will ask the court to declare him as a hostile witness,” said House prosecution panel spokesperson Benjamin Tolosa Jr. said at a news forum in Quezon City on Saturday.

Last Wednesday, the Senate impeachment court announced it issued a subpoena to the younger Duterte to appear at his sister’s impeachment trial.

“Tama po kasama siya sa mga witneses na naakalista sa issuance of subpoena na sinumite ng prosecution. Pinapatawag natin siya bilang testigo dahil main reason siya ang mayor ng City of Davao at nakita natin sa SALN (State of Assets Liabilities and Net Worth) ng bise merong iba-ibang kumpanya nakadeklara na meron siyang financial interest… [such as] Gencorp Industries. Gusto nating makita kung nagkaroon ng any dealings ang kumpanyang ito with the city government,” Tolosa said.

(It's true that he's one of the witnesses issued subpoena [by the court] which was submitted by the prosecution. We want him to testify because he is the mayor of Davao City and we found out from the SALN of the Vice President that there were different firms where she has financial interest such as Gencorp Industries. We want to see if there are dealings between this firm and the city government.)

The impeachment court is currently discussing Article II of the Articles of Impeachment, which involves the alleged unexplained wealth of the Vice President.

Tolosa said the prosecution will be asking the impeachment court to declare the Davao City mayor as hostile witness during the course of the trial, in which the panel will show that his interest is adverse to that of the prosecution.

READ: EXPLAINER: What is a hostile witness?

Tolosa explained that once the younger Duterte is declared a hostile witness, the prosecution can ask him more “leading questions” which can be answered by “yes or no.”

Moreover, the prosecutor said that House panel also listed as witness an assistant commissioner of the Civil Service Commission to explain the guidelines on filing SALN, a representative of the Securities and Exchange to testify if the Vice President has financial interests in several companies, representative of PhilHealth Region XI office and representative of its bids and awards committee to check the agency’s dealings with alleged Duterte-linked companies.

A representative of the PNP firearms and explosives office was also listed to divulge information on the registered firearms under Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases Carpio. — RSJ, GMA News