The Defense team argued Thursday that the testimony of Land Registration Authority (LRA) representative Atty. Kathy Florence Baldonado is "irrelevant" to the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.
During the 32nd day of Duterte’s impeachment trial, Defense lawyer Lindon Bacquel said the Articles of Impeachment do not identify any specific real property allegedly omitted from her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
Bacquel said the prosecution’s allegations regarding undeclared properties were based only on “mere conclusions” and lacked details identifying the property or its owner.
“It is our position that the testimony of Atty. Baldonado is irrelevant,” Bacquel told the Senate impeachment court.
He said the absence of a specific property allegation in the Articles of Impeachment could violate Duterte’s right to be informed of the nature and cause of the allegations against her, citing the court’s earlier ruling that impeachment proceedings are highly penal in character and that the Bill of Rights applies throughout the proceedings.
House prosecutor Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores countered that Article 2, Paragraph B of the Articles of Impeachment clearly alleges that Duterte failed to disclose all of her properties in her SALNs.
Flores said the prosecution could not have known about the properties beforehand precisely because they were allegedly not declared in the SALNs.
Bacquel maintained that the provision cited by Flores contained only general conclusions, noting that the articles referred to salaries, alleged business interests and alleged suspicious and covert transactions without identifying a particular real property or its owner.
The dispute arose as the prosecution began presenting evidence related to the alleged unexplained wealth of Duterte. Baldonado, the Davao City Register of Deeds IV, was subpoenaed to testify regarding an alleged property of Duterte's husband, Manases Carpio, in Matina.
A second provincial official was also expected to testify about a property in the Island Garden City of Samal registered in Carpio's name.
The Senate impeachment court began holding whole-day hearings Thursday after a one-day procedural pause on Sept. 30.
Officials from the LRA and Anti-Money Laundering Council are among the witnesses set to appear as the court tackles Article 2 of the impeachment case, which covers allegations involving unexplained wealth, SALN disclosures and continued business interests.
