PH Senate rejects VP Duterte appeal to shoulder food costs at trial — ANC

[0:00] The Philippine Senate majority denies the Vice President's request for the Senate [0:04] to cover the catering expenses of her impeachment defense team. [0:08] Civil society groups slammed the request as an insult to Filipinos. [0:13] R.G. Cruz reports. [0:16] The Senate leadership is not inclined to approve a request from the office of the Vice President [0:21] for the upper chamber to shoulder the food expenses of the defense panel in the impeachment trial. [0:26] It cites looming expenses on rental for offices for its non-impeachment trial work. [0:32] We cannot afford it in short because we will have to rent space in PICC. [0:38] Decision na yan ng management ng Senado kung papayagan o hindi. [0:46] But it's a basic issue of budget. [0:48] Dahil nga hindi kaya ng budget dahil meron tayong ibang gastusin. [0:53] We have to prioritize of course yung budget hearings at committee hearings. [0:57] Upon the decision, the majority of those who attended the mini-focus last night [1:01] parang sabi na hindi because sana natin kukunin. [1:05] Wala naman sa budget dahil baka masita tayo. [1:09] Paano natin i-explain na pinakain natin yung defense? [1:12] The request also receiving criticism from various groups. [1:15] Parang namang ini-insulto pa tayo na gusto niyo. [1:28] Parang the OVP is basically opening up the Senate for a procurement case. [1:36] Hindi ba kasi parang ang gusto nila, [1:39] sarili nilang katerer, pero ang taga-bayad, ibang tao. [1:43] Meanwhile, the Senate President is satisfied so far [1:46] with the way the impeachment trial is being held. [1:49] Yes, very satisfied, smooth at yung mga coordination, [1:55] pag-issue ng supina, security, lahat naman ay maayos. [2:00] So I thank the presiding officer for making it smooth [2:06] at maganda naman yung mga deliberations natin sa impeachment trial. [2:13] But the prosecution has some misgivings towards Senator Judges. [2:16] Yung pagtatanong ng Senator Judges, [2:19] they are supposed to be clarificatory questions, no? [2:23] To shed light kung saan man merong mga malalabo pa na parte [2:28] o bahagi ng presentasyon ng ating mga testigos. [2:33] Mahirap naman yung tatanungin ka by yes or no lang, no? [2:39] Because we are representing the institution, [2:42] the House of Representatives, [2:43] we are representing the people of the Philippines, [2:47] we really need to be given opportunity to explain. [2:51] The comment comes after several confrontations [2:54] between prosecutors and Senator Judges, [2:56] including the use of unsigned and unnotarized documents [3:00] and the prosecution panel's alleged one-sided questioning. [3:04] Meanwhile, Vice President Duterte's defense team [3:06] admits they are making minor adjustments [3:08] following criticisms of its performance [3:10] during the first three weeks of the impeachment trial. [3:14] To be very, very candid about things also, [3:16] we had our targets for the first week, [3:19] especially with witnesses that we thought [3:23] were not as vital as others. [3:26] We had targets. [3:27] We feel that we met those targets. [3:30] Now, as to how the public received it, [3:34] we also can't deny that when we read things online, [3:37] no matter how much we try to block out the noise, [3:40] I think it's important for us to also learn from comments [3:43] because most are even constructive comments. [3:47] So definitely, we took things into consideration. [3:50] Maybe it's also because us litigants [3:53] we're so used to the court setting [3:55] and impeachment is a very different arena. [3:58] Will there be adjustments? [4:00] Not major adjustments, [4:01] but we do listen to what the public says [4:04] and, of course, there will be fine-tuning here. [4:06] But defense spokesperson, [4:08] attorney Michael Poa, [4:09] asserts the prosecution failed to establish [4:11] that the vice president made a grave threat [4:13] against the president. [4:14] He adds they will show to the court [4:16] Duterte is not the violent person [4:18] she has been portrayed to be [4:19] when the defense presents its own witnesses. [4:22] We cannot deny the utterance. [4:25] Magbubulahan tayo dyan eh. [4:26] Hindi naman ganun ang takbo ng defense. [4:28] But it's really more of the context. [4:29] Hindi siya banta. [4:31] And for us, of course, [4:32] hindi pa na-establish siyon. [4:34] Especially because we haven't had our chance [4:35] to present our evidence. [4:37] What I've worked with her, [4:38] to be honest, [4:40] yung nasabi nga nung minsan, [4:41] nabato ako ng laptop eh. [4:42] Diba? [4:43] Totally not true. [4:44] Hindi ako nabato ng laptop or anything. [4:45] I've never seen her done that. [4:46] She's never been violent. [4:48] She's never even raised her voice at me. [4:50] I was working with her since DepEd 2022. [4:53] I really saw the real person that she is. [4:55] Very decisive. [4:58] She knows what she wants. [5:00] And that's what you need from a leader. [5:01] If they're saying that [5:03] because of that press conference [5:04] way back in the infamous press conference, [5:07] they considered that as an outburst, [5:10] then that's why we need to show context [5:11] on why that happened. [5:13] The prosecution, meanwhile, insists [5:15] it was the defense that failed to poke holes [5:17] in the testimonies of three NBI witnesses [5:20] they presented before the court. [5:22] We believe that nothing was established [5:24] by the defense. [5:27] The testimony of the three witnesses for threat [5:31] remains intact. [5:34] It was not even moved [5:41] or affected by the cross-examination [5:45] of the defense. [5:47] Itong video ito, [5:48] it already speaks for itself. [5:50] The impeachment trial will resume on July 29 [5:53] after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s [5:56] State of the Nation address. [5:57] On Thursday, [5:58] the marking and transfer of evidence [6:00] continued at the Senate [6:01] with both sides attending. [6:03] RG Cruz, EBS-CBN News. [6:05] RG Cruz.