The impeachment court on Monday ordered stricken from the record a remark by House private prosecutor Amando Ligutan questioning whether the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) handling of confidential funds amounted to a “scam” or outright deception involving public funds.
The exchange took place during Ligutan’s direct examination of former OVP special disbursing officer Gina Acosta, a hostile witness for the prosecution.
Ligutan was questioning Acosta about the documentation of the OVP’s confidential fund transactions and whether the public could still match the documentary trail with the actual use of the funds.
“Hindi ba sa pinaggagawa niyo, [wala] na pong paraan ang taumbayan na pagtugmain yung paper trail saka money trail?” Ligutan asked.
Acosta disagreed, saying the public could still seek clarification from the OVP’s security officer who implemented the transactions.
“Hindi nawalan, your honor, kasi pwede po nilang tanungin ang aming security officer na siya pong nagpapatupad,” Acosta said.
Ligutan then asked: “Hindi ba ito isang scam o tahasang panlilinlang sa pera ng bayan?”
Meanwhile, defense counsel, Atty. Lindon Miguel C. Bacquel objected to the question and asked that it be stricken from the record, calling it “impertinent.”
Presiding Officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero sustained the objection and ordered the remark removed from the record.
Escudero also reminded Ligutan to use appropriate language in his questioning, noting that the term “scam” was not used by the witness.
Earlier in the exchange, Escudero also corrected Ligutan’s use of the term “modus operandi” to refer to the procedure followed in handling the confidential funds.
Escudero pointed out that “modus” could carry a secondary or double meaning and suggested that Ligutan use terms such as “standard operating procedure” instead.
Ligutan had argued that the way the OVP transactions were documented made it difficult for the public to trace the paper trail and determine how the confidential funds were actually spent.
