MANILA, Philippines – Ideneklara ng Impeachment Court (IC) bilang hostile witness si Office of the Vice President (OVP) assistant chief-of-staff Lemuel Ortonio bilang hostile witness kaya puwedeng maghain ng leading question sa testigo.
Sa ginanap na ika-18 araw ng impeachment trial ni Vice President Sara Duterte, pinayagan ng korte ang prosecution na maghain ng leading question kay Ortonio, ikalawang opisyal ng Office of the Vice President na tumestigo hinggil sa paglulustay ng confidential funds.
Base sa pakahulugan ng korte, ang hostile witness ay isang taong ipinatawag ng Partido sa paglilitis kahit labag sa kanyang kalooban.
Sa offer ng prosecution – ang formal declaration ng purpose of evidence – hiniling ni Private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia na ideklara si Ortonio bilang hostile witness upang patunayan ang mga sumusunod:
1. The [OVP] confidential funds answer to no legitimate confidential purpose
2. The respondent’s handprints are on every document that mattered.
3. The reports were written to fit the rules, not the facts.
4. Five days after COA questioned the medical-and-food-aid item, the line disappeared while the report still totaled exactly P125 million.
5. In two years, not one area, not one operation was ever named.
6. The liquidation was late, irregular and back-dated.
7. The certifications vouch for nothing—and were signed by the man who received the money.
8. The P500 million bought protection the Vice President already had against threats which the AFP and the PNP were already paid billions to watch.
9. The justification for the confidential funds shifted with every finding.
10. The officials who knew answered nothing; the man who says he knew nothing answered everything.
11. The explanations for the confidential funds are a sham, and the failure to account for the funds gives rise to the presumption of misappropriation.
Pero, sinalag ni Defense counsel Kristine Ferrer ang naturang 11 items na binanggit ni Divinagracia na pawang “all conclusions of fact and law” at hindi “speculation conjectures not being proven to this honorable court.”
“They are all theories, and with all due respect, soundbytes. Nevertheless, we will cross examine the witness to verify the allegations or disprove the allegations of the prosecution,” ani Ferrer.
Sinabi ni Presiding officer at Senator-judge Francis Escudero na napatunayan sa patuloy na pagtatrabaho ni Ortorio sa ilalim ni Duterte na mayroon siyang adverse interest sa pangyayari.
“I think it has been established that Ortonio serves at the pleasure of the vice president, and has been working for her for quite some time and is serving up to now—and that if the vice president is impeached and therefore removed from office pati kayo matatanggal,” ani Escudero.
“To abbreviate the proceedings, the court declares Ortonio as a hostile witness based on his adverse interest vis-a-vis the respondent and prosecution,” dagdag niya.
Bukod sa pagiging assistant chief-of-staff, nagsisilbi din ni Ortonio bilang assistant secretary sa OVP. Ernie Reyes
