Defense lawyer Justin Nicol Gular on Monday objected to the presentation of a summary prepared by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) witness Atty. Gerardo Del Rosario during the 27th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.

The summary covers corporate records concerning companies allegedly linked to Duterte and was presented by the prosecution as part of its evidence under Article II of the impeachment case.

Prosecution lawyer Atty. Erwin Matib argued that the summary should be admitted to help expedite Del Rosario’s testimony.

“Summaries are allowed under the Rules of Court to expedite the presentation of the testimony of this witness and the court has consistently allowed the use of summary so I hope, your honor, we will be allowed to use this summary to shorten and expedite the presentation of testimony of this witness,” Matib said.

Gular, however, questioned the timing and contents of the document, saying the defense had only received the summaries during Monday’s proceedings.

“The summaries that were purportedly prepared by the Securities and Exchange Commission were just received by the defense in today’s proceeding and, your honor, a quick perusal of the document already shows some misrepresentations, your honor,” Gular said.

He pointed to the title of the document, “Summary of Vice President Sara Duterte’s Shareholdings,” noting that some of the figures reflected the authorized capital stock, subscribed amount, and paid-up amount of the corporations rather than Duterte’s personal shareholdings.

“For example, the summary is labeled as, ‘Summary of Vice President Sara Duterte’s shareholdings,’ but it then appears in the summary authorized capital stock… by the corporations, not by the Vice President,” Gular said.

Gular then questioned the use of the summary before the impeachment court.

“And this is precisely why we need to object, your honor, clearly, this is again an attempt, and apologies to use the term, to condition the mind of the public over these figures that will be flashed,” he added.

Presiding Officer Francis Escudero said the issues raised by the defense would be addressed during cross-examination. He also said Gular would be given time to review the summary before questioning the witness.

Escudero said the cross-examination could proceed after lunch on Monday or on Tuesday, September 22.

The exchange took place as the prosecution continued presenting SEC records and testimony in support of its Article II allegations against Duterte.