Sara Duterte Impeachment Trial: Sheila Sison Calls Out Prosecutor’s Social Media Post — N18G

[0:00] we submit your honor um any other matter you want to take up council correspondent [0:04] your honor good afternoon um i confirm receipt of the manifestation with the request for subpoenas [0:09] at the specific and for the four intended witnesses of the prosecution for next week i would just [0:15] like to inquire the order um in which the prosecution intends to present these four [0:21] witnesses um specifically who would be their witness on monday tuesday and wednesday just [0:28] for our guidance i believe it is in the order stated pareja followed by acosta followed by [0:35] fajarda and then um or tanya we confirm your honor in that order so the subpoena for our tanya will be [0:43] issued only on 18 and 19 for sure because surely we cannot take him up on the 17th thank you for [0:48] the clarity your honor second item is that we also would like to confirm that as of today in response [0:56] to the directive of the presiding officer we have not yet received any request for any um [1:03] potential stipulations or any factual stipulations the prosecution intends to ask from the defense [1:10] however the more important manifestation that i would like to make today your honor is in relation [1:17] to a social media post that i happen to see and this was posted at 11 29 a.m by one of the um private [1:28] prosecutors attorney amando virgil ligutan posting that a principal or lawyers and law students know by [1:36] heart misleading questions are not allowed even in cross examination now this was posted and picked up by [1:44] inquire.net at 11 29 a.m today and i surmise that this has something to do with the exchange between [1:54] um the private prosecutor attorney kapunan and the defense counsel attorney ferrer on the matter um [2:02] of the cross-examination question that attorney ferrer asked the prosecution's witness and i have [2:10] here a transcript because um i was i find it troubling that the private prosecutor would do this [2:19] in the middle of a courtroom hearing because as far as i'm concerned impeachment court is also [2:26] a court of decorum and the rules on impeachment under rule 18 actually prohibits participants [2:35] especially lawyers from commenting about the merits of the case now one may argue that this isn't [2:41] about the merits of the case that he probably was just commenting about what ought or what not to do [2:48] in a cross-examination but we you know we're not naive uh what the private prosecutor is talking about [2:54] he's here he can explain it uh he can explain himself if the presiding officer so desires but [3:00] i really just find it in bad taste to do this at this time and i think it is inappropriate to do that [3:07] to a fellow member of the bar because even as we sit on the opposing side of this hall we remain to be [3:16] both members of the bar and as officers of the court we owe each other respect um you know politeness [3:24] or even kindness and it doesn't take uh one to be a lawyer to know that the first thing that [3:31] our parents teach us to do is humility your honor no i'm not yet done your honor um in fact i'm i have [3:43] asked one of our lawyers to review the actual transcript um from the video that uh uh transpired between [3:54] the prosecutor and attorney ferrer and it would seem that in the heat of the exchange or in the passionate [4:02] exchange of the arguments between the prosecutor and attorney ferrer attorney ferrer was not even [4:08] actually referring to um misleading questions um as allowed um as implied in the social media post of [4:20] attorney uh ligutan in fact it's here the court can confirm this from the uh from a replay of the video [4:29] attorney ferrer sinabi ho ba yan sa jc na dapat may mahuli uh the witness answers ang nakalagay po kasi [4:36] sa jc under 4.8.2 i proof of success attorney ferrer hindi sorry your honor please attorney capuna and let [4:43] the witness answer your honor mr presiding officer can the council be instructed not to stop the witness [4:50] mid-sentence your honor attorney ferrer your honor please can the witness be directed to just answer with [4:55] yes or no the council has her time to ask clarificatory questions later during redirect [5:01] your honor and attorney capuna not all questions not all questions can be answered by yes or no this is [5:07] the myth of the contention of the argument between attorney capuna and attorney ferrer and 24 responded [5:14] i am on cross your honor please and the presiding officer said councils attorney capuna responded never mind [5:22] if you are on cross your honor there are limits to cross examination misleading questions are not [5:27] allowed on cross this was the first time that the matter on misleading questions was actually raised by [5:32] attorney capuna and attorney for there for some reason said they are allowed but she was pertaining to [5:39] the fact that the questions um to which uh a yes or no answer may be answerable are allowed she's not [5:48] referring to me i mean you know for uh in effect uh attorney ferrer was only saying that leading [5:57] questions are allowed on cross-examination not misleading questions and yet we have a private prosecutor [6:04] immediately taking to social media and posting this implying something against the defense council [6:10] we will not have this your honor in the interest of fair play may i request that the council for the panel of [6:19] prosecutors and attorney virtually couldn't be recognized unfortunately council no the [6:23] presiding officer will not um allow that at this time the presiding officer takes in advisement the [6:29] manifestation of the council the lead council for the respondent because quite frankly um um honorable [6:36] luistro um i asked the clerk of court to monitor the public statements of the councils of the parties this past [6:46] week and um one side has been crossing the line many many um times and um in fact the pro the presiding [6:55] officer has already is already in the process of drafting a ruling and a warning and an order pertaining [7:03] to this because clearly um um i can even name all of you who have been commenting on social media in [7:11] violation of rule 18 of the impeachment rules um but um i will do that on monday perhaps after taking [7:19] advisement the manifestation of the council for respondent it's not really so much um being cordial [7:27] or nice or kind but it's a basic violation of rule 18 i already talked to the parties um two weeks ago [7:34] reminding you that you might want to consider appointing spokespersons who are not part of the panel of [7:42] prosecutors nor a private prosecutor but you um insist on maintaining that um so after two weeks the [7:51] court is constrained to make a decision and ruling on that but you will do that on monday with the [7:56] permission of um both councils then we will hear you um council and we will hear attorney um ligutan prior [8:02] to the prior to the court's ruling on the matter but be um advised that again we have it all on tape [8:09] um we have been monitoring um everything we may not enumerate it one by one but we will make the [8:15] corresponding ruling on monday thank you for bringing that up council it gives me a reason to to um [8:20] actually issue the ruling which we have prepared and have been preparing the past um few days um on [8:26] monday attorney ligutan we will hear you before we make the ruling thank you um there being no other [8:31] matter um to be taken up by the trial and by the court we hereby adjourn until monday august um 17 [8:40] still at 10 a.m your direct does that mean you will you intend to proceed with their direct again [8:47] today no your honor if um so your direct is done it's a manifestation in regard to the ars [8:53] you know it depends on uh the discretion of the presiding officer if the presiding officer will allow [9:00] uh this witness to appear before the clerk of court in front of both councils your honor for the purpose [9:08] of identifying and authenticating the documents uh presented your honor then we will terminate our [9:15] direct examination i believe you already did yesterday council yes your honor but uh under the [9:22] control we private prosecutor your honor is under the control and supervision of the public panel of [9:29] public prosecutors who had expressed to this representation uh their concern about a possible [9:36] objection a technical objection of the defense uh council on the issue of identification and [9:45] authentication of this separate acknowledgement receipts so your honor in the interest of moving [9:52] forward um don't worry attorney celine um no need to comment the chair will make a ruling last night [10:00] um the acknowledgement receipts um that came from the uh council for respondents were submitted already [10:07] to the clerk of court for comparison with the ars of the prosecution both are certified through copies [10:16] although cert some ars are certified by a different certifying officer from koa [10:21] but both are certified through copies and we will proceed with a comparison it was clear from the [10:28] beach from the witness yesterday um and it's clear to the court that she based her tabulation on the ars [10:35] um that um she said we're all certified by the same person that's your copy council and um we took note of [10:43] that and acknowledge that these are certified through copies from both sides you will compare to avoid that [10:48] situation from happening and we will be ruling on the admissibility of these ars once it is formally [10:54] offered based on this comparison without need for celine really to tell us um that they look alike or alike [11:02] but council as of yesterday in so far as the randomly picked or well or well chosen um ars yesterday [11:11] council for the respondent did not raise their copies apparently um or we will know now at cross [11:17] apparently um there is no discrepancy or difference when you're presenting those ars to the witness [11:23] um and again that is their right to present their copy because their theory is they're questioning [11:30] correct me if i'm wrong attorney celine the chain of custody it might have been broken but if it's not [11:35] broken in so far as the ars and after we compare it then there is no need to further belabor this point [11:41] we will rule on the matter council at the appropriate time but i'm telling you already where the court is [11:47] at this point in time in relation to the ars that celine testified to um and where she based her tables [11:55] and summaries upon and that is the copies of the um prosecutor i hope that settles the issue council [12:04] thank you mr presiding officer i think with that ruling it is now clear that identification and [12:12] authentication are presumed from the statement of the presiding officers subject to cross-examination [12:23] of council for the respondent and subject to the comparison that the clerk will be making of these [12:28] copies coming from both parties which you will make known to the parties without need of celine's um [12:33] presence there at okay my last manifestation your honor and this is for purposes of clarity [12:39] because at the end of yesterday's hearing the party stayed council council for both parties stayed to [12:46] mark the tabulations your honor and for purposes of the record can we just state for instance for the [12:55] office of the vice president tabulations were marked in front of the clerk of court after the hearing [13:02] p-1-29 for december 2022 last quarter the period december 20 before you continue council the one you [13:14] mentioned is the one made by attorney wami yes your honor and the subsequent ones will be the ones made [13:20] by attorney by miss aileen yes your honor you may proceed so these have been marked after the hearing [13:26] in your honor upon direction of the presiding officer so as to make efficient use of time of the impeachment [13:34] court so for the last quarter tabulation made by mr wamell attorney wamell was marked yesterday as p-1-29 [13:44] for the first quarter of the office of the vice president it's p-1-30 for the second quarter [13:53] of the office of the office of the vice president it is p-1-31 and for the third quarter of the office of [14:02] the vice president marked as p-1-32 before the clerk of court and in the presence of defense respondents [14:12] council and prosecutions council a summary of these tabulations was likewise marked for december 2022 [14:22] p-1-29-1 which we have now your honor p-1-30-1 for the first quarter of the office of the vice president [14:37] p-1-31-1 for the second quarter and p-1-32-1 also which we have now your honor for the third quarter [14:53] for the depred your honor we likewise marked at the end of yesterday's hearing tabulations prepared [15:00] personally by this witness and identified before the impeachment court p-1-33 for the first quarter [15:12] p-1-34 for the second quarter and p-1-35 all tabulations [15:21] p-1-1-1 for the third quarter of the depred with that your honor unless council [15:53] julie noted council the markings mentioned by attorney capuna and attorney lorna julie noted [16:00] we therefore reiterate that we have terminated our direct examination your honor thank you very [16:05] much council um attorney christine um you may proceed with your cross when you are ready you may [16:10] proceed ma'am uh thank you your honor uh good morning celine is that the way that you pronounce your name [16:19] celine celine celine okay so uh you have been with the coa since 2014 right uh august 26 2014 po august [16:31] 26 so that is around 12 years already yes but maybe 12 years okay um you assumed the accounts of the vice [16:42] president the audit of the confidential funds of the vice president and the dep ed when uh attorney [16:49] wamil uh was reassigned to coa pasay correct correct correct oh po tama po uh curious [16:57] lang ako miss celine uh was that reassignment a promotion or just a plain reassignment if you know [17:04] okay so that was in feb on february 12 20 24 oh po tama po so mr wamil was the one who prepared uh [17:20] the the aoms uh the aoms uh for the fourth quarter of 2024 for the ovp tama uh yung aom po is for the [17:34] fourth quarter of 2022 at 2022 rather okay and he also prepared the aom for the first and second [17:44] quarter of 2023 okay so uh we will go back to that no so when mr wamil uh reassigned to you his account [17:57] was there any office memorandum that was issued by the coa you're reassigning you as the examiner [18:04] the question is misleading your honor it is not mr wamil who reassigned the account to her [18:10] she just occupied the position the question was um if there was an office memorandum reassigning her [18:17] to take over from wamil not wamil himself witness may answer uh no yung salah assignment po kasi namin [18:24] no i just uh i um just please answer the question was there an office memorandum assigning you to [18:31] handle the accounts of the uh ovp and the dep ed particularly the confidential audit of these two [18:38] offices meron po kaming order na ako po ang assigned sa na maghawak ng national government agencies [18:44] uh particularly the office of the vice president and the dep ed meron who kayo no ask an answer [18:50] your honor hindi uh my question was uh specific no i'm referring to the dep ed and the ovp witness [18:56] may answer these are national your honor please uh can the council uh allow me to continue my ask [19:02] questions can answer your honor witness may answer councils um may memorandum po ba na nag-assign [19:08] sa inyo specifically sa dep ed at ovp yung memorandum po is naga-assign naka-assign ako sa national [19:15] government agencies okay okay i accept that answer your honor uh was it mr wamil who personally uh turned [19:25] over his files to you ah hindi ah iiwan po niya yung files niya sa office po nung malipat po siya sa [19:33] kowa pasay sa kanino office sayo or kanino office ba sa custodian po namin sa kowa ikfaw okay so meron [19:43] ho ba siyang iniwan na endorsement sa inyo na ito lahat yung mga files na iniwan ko for this particular [19:51] account meron ho ba for the ovp meron ho bang siyang iniwan na endorsement yung mismong mga files po [19:58] iniwan po niya sa custodian namin ah endorsement ho like letter a summary containing all the the containing [20:06] a list of the files that he turned over to the custodian meron ho bang ganon meron po kaming [20:13] logbook pag natapos na po yung logbook okay pero dala mo ba yun ngayon hindi po okay so how about dun [20:20] sa dep ed may iniwan ho ba siyang transmittal doon sa custodian na ito lahat yung mga iniwan [20:27] kong files with regard to the audit of the dep ed confidential funds meron ho ba ang iniwan po niya [20:35] is yung mismong document yung mismong document so walang transmittal na iniwan ho dun sa custodian [20:42] yung o po yung mismong documents po ngayon okay sige um may iniwan ho ba si mr wamil [20:48] sa inyo di ba sabi nyo ah may mga documents ho siyang iniwan di ba pag nag-audit ho tayo ah mayroon [20:55] tayong tinatawag na working papers yung mga drafts po natin may iniwan ho si mr wamil sa inyo no [21:00] your honor please ah again question is misleading this witness already said ask and answered that mr wamil [21:09] did not leave documents to her mr wamil left the documents to the office i will rephrase i will [21:15] rephrase your honor kindly rephrase okay may iniwan bang worksheets sa custodian yes po nakasama po [21:22] dun sa ah files yung mga working papers po all right all right i'll take that answer um kayo po ah [21:32] paano nyo kinuha yung mga files na yun ah kinuha nyo lang diretsyo sa custodian ano pong proseso nun [21:40] nung ma-assign po sa akin yung sa obp at sa dep ed nung nagka nagsubmit po sila ng ah response [21:48] ibinigay po sa akin yung response together with the documents na pinagbasihan po nung audit observation [21:55] memorandum po ah okay so in short di route lang sa'yo yung response tama ho response together [22:01] with yung aom together with the attachment po na yung mga dokumento okay so ah kailan [22:08] ho yan ni route sa inyo yung response yung aom mga estimate lang po iba iba po kasi di ba ang [22:14] una is yung march 13 2024 na ah response nila sa ns na ibigay po sa akin to march 14 yung sa [22:22] iba po hindi ko na matandaan yung exact dates pero malapit po dun sa after ma-submit yung response [22:29] all right i'll take that answer ah okay so wamil prepared ah the aom for the fourth quarter [22:38] of 2022 for the office of the vice president tama po o po ah how about the first to third quarters [22:47] of 2023 sino ho ba yung nag prepare ng aoms na yun dalawa ho yun yung sa obp po na first and second [22:56] quarter 2023 nandun pa po siya nung ma-issue po yung aom yung sa third quarter po siya yung nag-draft [23:03] pero nung na finalize na po yun wala na po siya sa kowa ikfaw so na yung custody po nung [23:09] document na yun nasa division chief kaya nung finalize po yun division chief na po yun