Senate impeachment court spokesperson Reginald Tongol holds press briefing — July 7

[0:02] oh [0:29] okay yes yes i will read my statement for today just a short statement on what happened so first [0:41] there are administrative updates as to the bir box the bir box was transmitted by the impeachment [0:49] court clerk on july 7 2026 and was received by attorney and lorraine garcia marquez [0:57] of the office of the bir commissioner at exactly 11 0 7 a.m we will be attaching a photo of the [1:04] receiving copy to the briefer that we will give you later as to the house panel of prosecutors [1:12] subpoena request the request for issuance of subpoena does a stecum regarding tax documents [1:19] of respondent manscarpio and 22 businesses which responded allegedly has interest in was received [1:27] on july 6 2026 at 3 35 pm by the clerk of the impeachment court the renewed request for issuance [1:37] of sabina dues a second for bank records as addressed to honorable ellie remolona jr as [1:44] chairman of the anti-money laundering council was received on july 6 2026 at 3 35 pm by the clerk of [1:52] the impeachment court based on the order of the impeachment court on july 6 2026 the respondents [1:59] council council will be given a copy and five days upon receipt may file comment and opposition [2:06] there with afterwards oral arguments will be scheduled senate president sherwin gachalian called [2:13] the session to order and convened as impeachment court today at 2 pm with 20 senators present [2:20] as to the preliminary matters the inquiry of the senator judge laxon on the 16 votes required to convict as a [2:29] definitive ruling and not merely a personal opinion the presiding officer confirmed and affirmed that [2:35] such is a definitive ruling subject to the legal recourse of any party regarding the matter as to the [2:42] manifestation and query of the council of prosecutor lord nakapunan to the respondents council on the [2:48] plan of the prosecution to call the respondent as a hostile witness the presiding officer reiterated [2:55] that the respondent vice president can be allowed not to appear but will deal with the matter once [3:01] the prosecution files the appropriate pleading in court and will deal with it the same way as before [3:07] giving the other party the chance to oppose or comment within five days and with oral arguments to be [3:13] scheduled the start of presentation of prosecutions evidence-in-chief nbi agent john mark kalilong was [3:23] presented today on the defense's motion to have agent kalilong's testimony be excluded for being not [3:31] part of the articles of impeachment the presiding officer denied the motion citing the case of enrile [3:37] versus sandigan bayan as a supreme court held that the additional evidence is allowed as complaint is [3:44] just the summary of the charge against an accused it does not include the evidence to support the charge in [3:51] the articles of impeachment the direct examination of the witness was conducted by the council for [3:58] prosecution attorney ligutan the presiding officer allowed the showing in open court of the two minute [4:06] and 18 second video exhibits p4-10 and contained in exhibit p4-10a despite objection from the defense [4:17] on the need to show the whole two-hour video instead the presiding officer as well made several [4:24] evidentiary rulings on motions and objections of both parties several senator judges asked questions [4:30] to the prosecution and its witness of note is the question of the senator judge ontiveros on why article [4:38] 4 is tantamount to an impeachable offense to which the council for prosecutors attorney ligutan [4:44] answered in the affirmative with explanation this prompted a motion from senator judge pia kaitano [4:52] to move to strike the response of attorney ligutan the presiding officer moved to table the motion to [4:59] strike out and to be taken up at a later time and then the presiding officer ruled that the cross [5:06] examination of prosecution witness nbi agent kalilong will be done tomorrow the trial has adjourned and [5:13] will resume tomorrow wednesday july 8 2026 at 2 p.m for the continuation of the testimony of prosecution [5:20] witness nbi agent kalilong for cross-examination by the defense that's all right because the cross [5:34] examination will entail a long time uh based experience natin bilang litigator then in expect [5:42] natin matatagalan yun and some senators are already tired sitting there uh so pwede naman po yun ginagawa yun so [5:51] that uh uh mas ma-appreciate na mga tao po pag hindi tayo pagod uh mas ma-appreciate din yung [5:58] storya at testimonya ng ng ng testigo kapag uh nakapahinga rin siya kasi tuloy tuloy rin siya kanina [6:06] kawawa rin naman yes yes uh i think uh we want to make the trial very uh compact and expedient uh medyo long [6:25] day lagi tayo kapag may trial alam nyo naman so gusto natin as much as possible lahat ng mga uh [6:32] lahat ng mga incidents ma-resolve kagad at mabilis yung mga pagpapresenta ng mga testimonya at [6:38] ebidensya ah hindi pa natin alam kasi sometimes the court uh will schedule a specific 92 days but [6:51] because of exigences or yung mga ganito na wala hindi naman kasalanan ng both parties hindi [6:56] rin kasalanan ng korte um just as part of court management the court will uh necessarily extend [7:05] the trial dates as as need be so hindi talaga siya 92 or 93 days na nakatali talaga one day one [7:22] witness rule uh katulad ng any uh provision ng mga rules natin no ito po ay pinapasalang o pinapasunod [7:31] sa atin para may orderly ah na pag ah presenta ng mga ebidensya at ng mga testigo pero hindi naman po [7:39] ito hard and strict rule while we want na ah talagang masunod yun pero depende po sa case to case basis [7:47] exigences of the time ang mas nanaig pa rin po talaga eh yung mas makuha yung katotohanan at ah mas [7:55] mas magkukuha po yun kapag lahat po ng parties ay medyo hindi napagod ah sa gantong klaseng kahabang mga testimony [8:03] ah that is ah an expected ah result of ah the delay o dun sa pagka cross-examine ng ah first ah witness ng prosecution [8:25] ah ah syempre mauurong lahat yun ah however the impeachment court will try its best to figure out [8:33] how to squeeze in ah the incidental oral arguments po doon sa mga trial dates na na mga sinet po natin ah for [8:43] the meantime ah of course it will just be one day kasi nakalagay sa senate ah rules on impeachment [8:54] ah the parties will just given ah one hour to argue their ah motion ah and one hour for the other [9:01] side so medyo mahaba na po yung two hours na yun kaya ah it will take up a much time kapag magkaroon po [9:09] ng oral arguments sa lahat ng mga incidents ah as the presiding officer said yesterday and was confirmed [9:25] earlier ah any person can raise the matter ah pwede po nilang exhaust yung kanilang mga legal remedies [9:32] and yun po yung nakita natin but since meron na pong kaso po sa supreme court yun we will respect [9:38] the subjudicial rule at hindi na po magko comment yung impeachment court regarding that matter ah [9:48] hindi i think pagbabotohan po yun ng impeachment court as ah collegial body yung kung katulad po [9:58] ng last year no pinagbotohan po nila yung mga incidente na may concern po sa ah sa pag i-implement po [10:06] na mga orders ng ibang bodies or branches of government so ah because this is a collegial body not a [10:12] single ah person can ah can speak for the body ah so mas mabuti pong pagbabotohan kung ah ah susundan [10:20] ng ah ah kongreso o ng senado yung mga ganong order from another co-equal branch of government [10:31] ah tama po tama po dahil wala naman pong in issue na tro or status quo ante order [10:37] ano po doon can you please clarify ano po yung specific na incident na sinasabi ninyo na hindi [10:55] sinunod ng senado yung order ng corte suprema kasi mahirap po magkomento ako dito ng very general [11:05] statement pong ganon ah na walang specific na detalye po so kung na alim po lahat po may possibility na [11:13] mangyari ah of course it is within the plenary powers of any co-equal branch of government however as we have [11:26] seen before po the senate ah always respects the balance of power ah so kung yun po yung guidance [11:35] ah makikita po natin ah makikita po natin na susundin nila yung ah ah co-equal branch of government [11:41] nila so long as it does not ah prevent them from exercising their own ah powers under the constitution [11:49] so pag ganyan po ayaw po natin ng constitutional crisis and sa history naman po ng ah ating mga [11:56] three branches of government wala pa naman tayong umabot doon sa ganong ah pag pag ah [12:03] ah va-violate nung co-equality nung mga branches of government po yes kasi yan po yung nakaschedule na [12:13] ng prosecution na ipresenta ngayong linggong to dalawang nbi agent po to testify on the [12:20] videos as well to in relation to article 4 ng articles of impeachment ah compared yesterday na medyo [12:31] ah so mabilis kahapon very efficient very fast ah ah today po ah it was ah long because of the [12:40] technicalities of the law ah sana po maintindihan ng publiko natin na kasama po ah yung mga ganong mga [12:47] procedure mga formalities ang pagmamark po ng ebidensya na pag identify and authenticate at [12:54] pa isa isang pagtatanong po to establish ah the chain of custody at saka po yung pag identify [13:00] na mga dokumento at ebidensya kasama po yun sa araw araw na ginagampanan ng lahat ng abogato po sa [13:07] korte at lahat rin po ng korte so nasisilip po natin bilang publiko yung inner workings of the court in [13:16] process so ah medyo pagpasensyahan lang po natin yun but it is necessary po for the ah for for to keep the [13:24] rights of all the parties in place po party po yun o po party po talaga po yun they have the right to [13:36] raise objections and they have the right to ask for a ruling on their objections po can we ask for [13:42] you i think there's precedent for during the corona trial about the tro can you elaborate [13:48] ko as an open precedent about the senate possibly voting on the tro can you clarify what tro was [13:55] issued during the corona the senate during the corona trial voted about about the tro on opening [14:02] the dollar account so do we see a similar scenario uh it's hard to hazard a guess because case to case [14:08] basis po so ayoko pong pangunahan kung ano po yung magiging aksyon ng ating mga senator judges [14:13] at ng impeachment court but i think we have to just uh wait for it when the time comes we will [14:19] cross the bridge when we get there yes it is part of the senate impeachment rules and it was reiterated [14:34] by uh the presiding officer in his opening statement uh yesterday ah yung merits po bawal po may tanong pa [14:50] po kayo thank you for cross-examination po kay kalilong and kung maikli lang po yung cross [15:00] examination ah then possible po na ah na i maipresent na rin po yung pangalawang testigo po [15:08] ng prosecution ah maaari rin naman pong walang cross-examination ah nangyayari naman po yun [15:14] sa ordinary na experience ng mga ah korte at mga abogado po sa litigation so kung wala rin pong [15:20] cross-examination then ah the prosecution will move to their next witness po na si ah nbi agent lontok ah [15:36] possible po hindi ko po alam hindi kung ano yun sige po salamat po see you again tomorrow [15:45] so bibila ka kita oh [15:51] ganon po yun [15:51] kung kampus [15:58] kung kampus [15:59] kung kampus [16:00] kung kampus [16:03] ang kampus [16:03] ang AJP [16:03] ang coordination [16:03] ang [16:04] ang [16:05] ang [16:06] ang [16:06] ang [16:07] ang [16:10] ang [16:12] sa [16:14] ang [16:14] ang [16:14] ang [16:14] ang [16:16] ang [16:16] ang [16:16] ang [16:17] ang