House panel urges protection of impeachment evidence after Senate hack incident — GMA News

[0:00] Good morning, po. [0:01] Attorney Kapunan mentioned earlier that the coming days will be difficult [0:05] and that there will be a lot of fake news for the private prosecutors. [0:11] Are you prepared to be the subject or the target of such disinformation in the coming days? [0:23] Are you addressing this to us? [0:25] To all the private prosecutors, po. [0:27] Yes. [0:29] I eat media for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so this is not new. [0:35] I've worked with many of you, and some of my cases have been controversial. [0:42] But the common denominator of all the cases I have handled is a moral certainty. [0:48] It's a certainty that we are for the truth. [0:53] We are for the rule of law. [0:54] And so if that is the guide, if our conscience is personally speaking, [1:02] I go to this impeachment trial with a clear conscience. [1:06] It does not matter if we are hit personally for all the wrong or right things I've done in the past. [1:15] What matters here is that we are useful, that we will be useful in supporting or aiding our public prosecutors [1:26] in presenting a strong, fair, and evidence-based case. [1:34] So the direct answer to your question, ma'am, is bring it on. [1:44] For the other private prosecutors. [1:46] So the heat that we will encounter and or experience, that is expected. [1:54] But it's nothing compared to the honor that this obligation that we are fulfilling, the honor that it brings. [2:03] Wala po yan, yung magiging pambabastos, yung fake news, yung mga memes that will be created attacking us. [2:14] Wala po yan kumpara. [2:17] Sa karangalan na mapabilang sa mga private prosecutors na mag-pro-prosecute ng mga articles of impeachment against the vice president. [2:30] Sabi ga ni Chair Jinki, knowing that we are in the right side of history makes all of the hardship, all of the difficulties, all of the fake news worth it. [2:42] It's nothing compared to the honor of making sure that those that must be held accountable should be held accountable, [2:54] no matter the case that you are the vice president of the Republic of the Philippines. [2:59] For PECA bar law, PECA bar is not that media savvy really, no? [3:09] So to us, it's just like any other legal work that we have handled and we are handling. [3:15] So it's nothing personal, no? [3:19] We are given a job, we are given an objective, so we'll just fulfill our objective in this case, [3:26] like any other case that we have handled and we are handling for other clients. [3:31] So that's it. [3:37] Was that also for Attorney Ali, sir? [3:40] For the public and the private prosecutors, yung Senate website po was hacked this morning. [3:51] And a few days ago, the NBI revealed a threat against the Senate building and the surrounding areas. [4:01] So is this a concern in connection with the impeachment trial? [4:07] You know, it's hard to speculate, no, if this is connected to the impeachment trial. [4:17] But what is clear, we have a schedule already for our first pre-trial conference on June 18, [4:25] and that will be this coming Thursday. [4:27] So I wish to express my concern about the security and safety of those who will be joining the filing of pre-trial brief on Monday, [4:38] and those who will be joining the conduct of the pre-trial conference on Thursday, [4:45] as well as all the senators, even the defense team, and the officials and employees of the Senate who are staying in the premises, no? [4:54] And let me take advantage of this opportunity upang manawagan sa ating law enforcement agencies. [5:01] That includes, of course, the investigative bodies like the NBI, the DOJ, the PNP, no? [5:09] Atin pong tingnan ito, let us look into this and make sure na ligtas, safe and secured ang premises ng Senate. [5:20] If this is connected to the impeachment trial, then we have more reason to make sure that this will be addressed [5:28] because this is a very significant process. [5:31] This is a constitutional process that concerns the interest of every Pilipino across the world, no? [5:41] So, whether connected or not, sana ay tutukan po ito ng ating mga katuwang sa paglilingkod mula sa law enforcement agencies. [5:51] Ma'am, is the House of Representatives beefing up security for the public and the private prosecutors? [6:00] And what about the witnesses and the evidence? [6:05] Well, the leadership actually initiated the communication already about providing the necessary security to all the prosecutors [6:16] considering the report of the NBI, the hacking of the Senate official website, no? [6:23] And, of course, apart from this, we express likewise our concern in securing as well our witnesses and the evidence to be presented [6:35] and there are ongoing communications already in order to address that. [6:42] Communication between the House and Sina Poma? [6:45] Of course, it's the leadership who can help us remember that both the private and the public prosecutors will be appearing before the impeachment court [6:55] to represent the institution and the people whom we serve, no? [6:59] At, syempre, ang institution ang katuwang natin to make sure that we will all be safe as we continue to participate in the impeachment process, [7:10] not only the prosecutors but also the evidence and the witnesses which we will be presenting during the trial. [7:17] Ma'am, meron bang parang safe house for the witnesses or meron bang vault or storage for the evidence [7:24] and meron bang house security na naka-assign na magbantay sa mga ito? [7:30] If I answer that, I have to kill you. We cannot divulge it. We cannot divulge. [7:36] But it's a real concern as practicing lawyers. [7:40] Maalala natin, nung height ng drug war sa Quezon City, nasunog ang Quezon City, City Hall. [7:53] Nung nagkakaroon ng election protest sa Comelec, nasunog ang Comelec. [7:58] So and we surmise that this may have to do with documents and so we echo the concern of our head public prosecutor, [8:11] Ma'am Jinky, that there should be measures to take our documents kasi na transmit lahat. [8:20] Speaking from an evidence point of view, we have to safeguard our evidence [8:27] because the evidence from the House has been transmitted already. [8:31] Most of our documentary evidence has been transmitted to the Senate [8:37] and in the pretrial that will happen where the pretrial order says there will be pre-marking of documentary exhibits. [8:46] We have a room full of documentary exhibits literally and figuratively. [8:51] We hope, well we trust that the Senate will provide protection, not only especially for our people, [8:59] but as well for the evidence in the impeachment, in the impeachment case. [9:04] The other thing is, I guess, media is watching the courtroom, the impeachment courtroom battle. [9:13] But I think media should also be sensitive, as Chairman Luister said, to the courtroom outside. [9:21] Because there have been many civil society groups that have launched a Senate watch. [9:30] There will also be a people's impeachment court. [9:33] Maybe, maybe media should also listen to what is happening outside. [9:40] Because if there is any trouble, sabi nga nila baka may dumating na armed men, [9:45] or baka may coup d'etat, but this is all speculation. [9:48] What's important is, we are all vigilant. [9:53] Media, kami sa prosecution, and civil society. [9:58] Thank you pa rin. [10:01] Thank you po. [10:06] Thank you, Tina. [10:07] We will now recognize Lance Mejeko of Newswatch. [10:13] Thank you. [10:14] Thank you.