House prosecutors won't present Trillanes as witness in Sara Duterte trial - GMA Network

Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV will not be presented as a witness in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, the House prosecution panel said Thursday.

House lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro of Batangas made the manifestation on Day 32 of the impeachment trial, saying the panel's decision was final.

"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 said.

In a Facebook post, Trillanes said it was he who asked the House prosecution panel to withdraw his name from being a witness in the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

“Earlier in the day, 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,” said Trillanes.

"Having said that, magko-conduct ako ng press con bukas para i-presenta lahat ng ilalabas ko dapat sa impeachment trial," he added.

(Having said that, I will conduct a press conference tomorrow to present everything I am supposed to expose during the impeachment trial.)

Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo earlier said Trillanes must be presented as witness first before the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura, given Trillanes’ previous allegations involving the bank accounts of the Duterte family.

Trillanes, a staunch critic of the Dutertes, already visited the impeachment court last Tuesday.

Just hours ahead of the manifestation, Luistro told reporters there was no schedule yet when Trillanes would appear as a witness in the trial.

"No definite schedule yet," Luistro said.

Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis "Chiz" Escudero had rejected the request to issue a subpoena to Trillanes.

Meanwhile, Buenaventura was expected to appear this week in the trial, but the AMLC official's appearance was moved to next week to give time for the defense panel to study documents related to Duterte's bank records.

Luistro said that discussions on AMLC records could be "lengthy."

"We are expecting a lot of interjections coming from the senator judges, that is addition to the cross examination," she said. — VDV, GMA News