Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said Thursday that he personally requested lead prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro to withdraw him as a witness in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Trillanes said he made the request to relieve the House prosecution panel of the “pressure it is going through.”
“I requested the House prosecution under Chair Jinky Luistro to formally withdraw my name as a witness for the prosecution. This way, the prosecution panel would be relieved from the pressure it is going through,” Trillanes said.
Trillanes also said he would hold a press conference on Friday, Oct. 2 to disclose the information he had intended to present during the impeachment proceedings.
“Having said that, magco-conduct ako ng press con bukas para ipresenta lahat ng ilalabas ko dapat sa impeachment trial,” he said.
During Thursday’s impeachment proceedings, Luistro manifested that the prosecution had “finally decided” not to present Trillanes as its next witness in connection with the allegations of unexplained wealth against Duterte under Article II of the Articles of Impeachment.
“The prosecution has finally decided not to present former Senator Sonny Trillanes. We seek the kind indulgence of the honorable impeachment court for the belated final position on this particular concern,” Luistro told the impeachment court.
Trillanes had earlier been expected to testify on financial records and other information that the prosecution said could be relevant to the allegations of unexplained wealth involving Duterte and her husband, Manases “Mans” Carpio.
