The prosecution panel in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte said the proceedings will be determined by the strength of the evidence presented, rather than the number of objections raised or favorable rulings secured during the trial.
House prosecution legal panel spokesperson Atty. Jay Tolosa, Jr. said the team expected the defense to file objections as part of its role in the proceedings, emphasizing that both sides are simply performing their duties.
“Despite the repeated attempts to stop us from presenting our evidence, we prevailed...To be fair, doon sa other party, they were just doing their job. Ini-expect naman talaga natin ’yan, they will raise objection, but fortunately, sa aming side, we were able to counter them. Impeachment court allow us to present our evidence,” Tolosa said during a press conference on Wednesday hours before the resumption of the trial.
“Hindi ito paramihan ng objections at paramihan ng favorable rulings sa mga objection na ’to. Patibayan po ng mga ebidensya ito,” he said.
His remarks came after several objections were raised by the defense during the prosecution panel’s presentation of evidence on the second day of the impeachment trial on Tuesday.
Tolosa and House Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega also clarified that the prosecution panel was not claiming victory after the second day of proceedings. They said the group’s main achievement was that the trial had finally begun.
Tolosa said the prosecution was "pleased" with the proceedings, noting that private prosecutor Atty. Virgil Ligutan was able to effectively present the panel’s first witness on Tuesday.
Tolosa said the prosecution remains confident that its evidence will withstand scrutiny.
“The prosecution is not claiming victory at this early stage. We've just said that we are pleased of how the first day of the presentation of witness went... Kami ay confident na tatayo ang ebidensya namin,” he said.
The third day of the trial will focus on the defense’s cross-examination of prosecution witness NBI Senior Agent John Mark Calilung.
