Tolosa: Pre-trial brief ng Defense panel, ampaw?

PARA sa hanay ng mga private prosecutors, walang saysay ang pre-trial brief na isinumite ng defense panel kaugnay ng paratang sa maling paggamit ng kabuuang P612.5-million confidential funds na inilaan sa Office of the Vice President at Department of Education na dating hawak ni Vice President Sara Duterte.

Ayon kay Atty. Jay Tolosa na tumatayong tagapagsalita ng private prosecution team, wala na rin basehan pagbigyan ang hirit ng kampo ni Duterte maglabas ng kontra ebidensya lalo pa’t nakapagpasya na ang Senate impeachment court ibasura ang tatlo sa apat na Articles of Impeachment.

Sa pagsusuri ng prosekusyon sa pre-trial brief ng depensa, wala rin  umano maski isang dokumentong magpapatunay na akma sa umiiral na panuntunan ang paggastos ng confidential funds ng OVP at DepEd.

“You will not find a single official receipt in their pretrial brief that would support those payments for confidential funds,” giit ni Tolosa.

Sa testimonya ng isang Commission on Audit (COA) witness, aabot sa 849 acknowledgement receipts ang isinumite ng OVP subalit walang official receipts o sales invoice para suportahan ang liquidation ng P125 million confidential funds na ni-release noong Disyembre 2022.

Ani Tolosa, ang kawalan ng supporting materials sa inihaing pre-trial brief ng depensa ay taliwas na ipinangangalandakan sapat na ebidensya ng mga abogado ng bise presidente.

Paglalarawan ni Tolosa sa mga sinasabing magiging ebidensya ng defense team, pawang “denials at procedural challenges” lang ang nilalaman.

“It’s all just bare denials and technicalities. At every turn, they tried to have this case dismissed before the Supreme Court based on technical grounds,” sabi ni Tolosa.

“Even in their pretrial brief, you won’t see any concrete defense there. The witnesses, most of them are unnamed. Those that were named were just copied from ours. They are just talking about unexplained wealth,” dagdag niya.

Samantala, wala umanong batayan at labag sa Saligang Batas ang umano’y nilulutong kasunduang magbibigay-daan sa pagkandidato ni Duterte sa 2028 kahit pa maconvict.

“That has no basis and it’s inconsistent with the provisions of the constitution. Which provides that if an impeachable officer is found guilty of the charges and the articles of impeachment, then she should suffer the penalties of removal from office and perpetual disqualification,” paliwanag ni Tolosa.

“You only need to secure conviction for one, so that we will get the penalty under the constitution, which is removal from office and perpetual disqualification from holding public office,” sabi pa niya.