Lorna Kapunan says resignation won’t save Sara Duterte

Base ron sa mga lumabas na ebidensya doun sa House Justice Committee Hearings or impeachment hearings, eh talagang mako-convict itong si ano si Vice President Sar Duterte. So kung sakaling magkaroon nga ng trial, kung pagbabasigan lang talaga ebidensya, dapat pa-convict siya sa senado. Correct.

 Because kung ano, kung sa korte kasi there are many kinds of evidence, no? But ang mabigat na evidence is number one direct evidence. direct direct testimony no ah anong ibig sabihin ng direct testimony yung yung isang secretary one of the one of them who received an envelope yung bribe direct testimony yun ah kung paniniwalaan natin ang isang madriaga yung nag-deliver ng duffle bag dati sa direct testimony >> mm >> versus yung when attorney poa was being interviewed mukhang mukhang hindi direct evidence sila when he was asked why did the vice

president put ah not bakit hindi bakit hindi si bakit nilagay ng vice president none yung cash in handen in banks for the last 6 years mm it is telling na ang sagot niya at ni poa is ah we were told according to the vice president we were told Hindi sumot sumipot ang vice president and it is a scenario she will probably answer but she will not be there.

 So if she’s not there whatever attorney poa says will be here say evidence kasi hindi pwedeng sinabi sa akin that is here say evidence versus direct testimony. Tapos yung mga bank records, kunyari bank records na pinakita sa house, no? Authenticated yan. Authentic and authenticated. Authentic because there are official records from a government agency.

 authenticated because pinakita nila yung process yung chain of custody no ah yung chain of custody ng evidence kagaya ng ano mga videos na princent pinakita nila na ng NBI na hindi naman spliced yung pinakita nilang ano wala naman nag-interfer na private individual para i-cutcut yung mga videos na yan ano the same videos that they’re using now in ACION case NBI is on the same grounds assassination uh directorate hiring of an assassin.

May pending criminal investigation ang NBI ah and that is the same evidence they’re using. Yun ang mabigat rin na evidence. authentic records. If the vice president does not appear and is not able to produce bank records or authentic records, anong weight ng evidence na yon? Meron ring mabigat na evidence which is forensic evidence, no? Is a signatures for >> evidence, the signatures, the bank accounts. ano ang ilalaban nila diyan.

So in terms of the quality of the evidence versus here say versus unauthentic unauthenticated documents ah also yung expert witnesses no may expert witnesses on the side of the prosecution pag hindi siya nag-present ng expert witness ah medyo mahirap ang defense. And >> mm >> and if that is so obvious and despite the weakness of the defense bumoto pa rin for aquital ang mga allies niya sa senate eh sila na ang iju-judge ng taong bayan and worse if she’s not disqualified and she runs for the presidency in 2028 at nanalo pa yan, sinong may

kasalanan? Hindi tayo may kasalanan kasi if she wins It is not on the people. It is it is not on her allies in the house in the Senate. Tayo na. How about resignation? Do you think that should be or that should be seen as a viable option or way out for the vice president given the weight of evidence that you’re talking about? >> She may resign ano but the effect iba ang resignation.

when you resign then you are no longer a sitting vice president but remember this is an impeachment case. An impeachment case has two penalties. The first penalty is removal from her office. But if she already has resigned wala naung removal but there is a second penalty which is permanent disqualification to run for any public office.

 Even if she resigns, her resignation will not stop the proceedings. Ituloy pa dapat rin iyan ah because they still have to determine if convicted if convicted the vice president cannot run. So resignation will not cure her problems. Okay. Pero that’s one school of thought, no? Meron kasing naga-argue na sinasabi hindi hindi na hindi na dapat ituloy.

 I think they’re citing the case of former ombudsman Maraditas Gutierrez who resigned before Senate could uh hold trial is timing key in a possible resignation. So kunwari nakapag-convene na tsaka nag-resign. Anong mangyari? Or nag-resign pero hindi pa nakapag-convene yung Senado as an impeachment court. Timing is very key because for instance in the case of Chairman Bautista uh in case of Mercedita it did not proceed into actual proceedings in the house.

There was no sufficient for informance sub. Hindi dumaan ng sufficiency informeachment. uh complaint sa house. They resigned at the stage of the house impeachment proceedings. Maag pa iba naman ngayon ano ah because nakatawid na yan sa house eh. So in other words, they cannot compare apples and oranges.

 Yung kay Chairman B Merceda, hindi naman nag-prosper yung complaint sa house mismo. So hindi na, in other words, hindi nainitiate ang impeachment complaint. Walang finding as to sufficiency in form. walang finding sufficiency in substance and more so walang probable cause. Even before that all happened, nag-resign na yung dalawa.

So pero kung papaano opo papaano kung na-transmit na ng house yung articles of impeachment tatanggap na ng senado tapos doun siya nag-resign pero hindi pa nagco-convene Senate as an impeachment court. She can resign but she will still be >> she can resign but the case will still proceed because the defense team will have to answer the allegation of why she should not be disqualified for running in the from running for any public position hindi na material kung nag-resign siya even before even before the proceed

actual trials starts Eh ang sasagutin pa rin ng defense hindi na yung why she should why she should be removed. Ang sasagutin nila is why she should not be able to run for any public position whether in 2028 or even as barangay captain. Muntahan ko lang puntahan ko lang po ilang mga glaring na lumabas laban sa vison sa impeachment hearings.

 Example yyung others no. So until 2018, nagde-declare siya ng separate items for cash on hand and in bank sa kanyang mga salen. Pero 2019 until 2024 if I’m not mistaken biglang zero. Okay? Wala yung ganong item. Ang paliwanag o palusot ni Attorney Michael Poa na binanggit niyo kanina eh ayon daw sa kliyente niya the vice president eh ni-lamp daw yun doon sa others.

 I mean kayo ang tagal niyo ng abogado ano anong tingin niyo rin sa paliwanag na yon? Lusot. Palusot yan because as simple arithmetic yan. Miskin na linamp mo sa others, you add it all up. Whether it’s in the column of cash banks, whether it’s in the column of others, it will not add up to 6.77 billion nor it will it add up to 88 million.

 Ano ang ano ba ang salary ng isang vice president on recent based on recent information, ang salary ng isang vice president is only 4 million. 4 million plus no? >> A year? >> A year. The salary when she was vice mayor or mayor was less than a million. you add all of it up from 2019 uh from for the last 19 years it will not to to the big billions and figures.

 No yung 88 million na yan is a reflects her salary for 28 years. Ah for I’m sorry for 19 to 20 years. Sabihan natin na lilinagay sa others dapat magdugma pa rin. T’s hindi bumabalanse because if you put it in the column of others instead of the column of banks, it should still come out to 88 million. Ang nangyari diyan eh sinabi niya well hindi mag-a-add up ‘yan because ‘yung income naman niya eh hindi naman galing sa sweldo niya, galing sa business niya.

Ah and the SEC was there. They produced the uh records, the GIS financial statements of 12 to 14. companies where she allegedly had business interest. Anong nangyari? Pinakita ng SEC representative lahat ng company ay lugi except for one which made a gross revenue of less than a million. So if it is not from salary and it is not from businesses and it is not from investment where did it come from? Kaya ang heading niyan is unexplained wealth. Dalawa yan.

Failure to disclose and or unexplained wealth. On both counts, sabit siya. Mm. At saka ‘yun nga ah dahil doun sa naging paglilitis din kay Den Chief Justice Renato Corona pagdating sa Salen eh mukha hindi naman ganon kahirap kung ipo-prosecute ito sa impeachment trial kahit malaking bahagi diyan yung pulitika lalo ikukumpara niyo diyan ano yung nasasali niya at ano yung mga nakita at pag wala hindi ba napakasimpleng determination non evidence lang yan eh hindi naman kailangan hindi na nga kailangan ng abogado diyan eh kailangan lang

nakakaintindi ng addition subtraction kasi Kasi pag in-add mo lahat hindi naman tutugma sa dineclare. Ibig sabihin non-declared. Hindi dineclare. Bakit kasama yung asawa? Eh asawa mo yan eh. Unless unless hindi mo naasawa it is conjugal. Ah and if it is conjugal and it comes from the business the law firm the law firm business of the husband saan ang declaration ng income of the law firm.

Wala rin income yung law firm na yan. Hindi naman dine-declare na yan. So how do you explain? How do you explain it? Tranes explain it by saying ilgten yan eh. Goten yan kasama diyan yung yung binibigay ng ng from drug money or from pogo money but that’s another story but yung random accounts na pinili ni sea from the trilanes afidavit and the annexes there to swak na swak sa amla report on suspicious and covered transactions so how can you falsify to the last centavo. Mm.

Okay. Bilang panghuli po no sabi niyo last year nag simulate na kayo ng mga scenarios pati yung courtroom scenarios talagang ah tiningnan niyo na po ano pero dito no base rin sa mga lumabas po roon sa House Justice Committee if you were to entertain certain possibilities as to how the vice president could extrate herself from this situation or quagmire meron po ba kayong naiisip na malulusutan o maipapaliwanag niyo na itong mga alegasyon na ito.

>> She will use extra ligan. Uh she’s using now her troll armies. She’s now changing the narrative. She’s using her allies. She even has a battalion of legal experts who are expusing uh contra reviews to what is clearly stated in the constitution. Gagamit lahat iyan but all of this would be extral. In fact, uh if you’re talking extralegal, you’re probably talking about resort to uh promises.

 No, if I if no, this is cure speculation short of being livelous. Baka ipa-promise niya na if I’m if I win, if you acquit me and I win as president, I will make you Secretary of Justice or if I win, I will make you my vice president. or if I win I will you know all of these things are extra legal considerations >> because I don’t see I don’t see her acquitting herself based on the ev strength ito naman ang sabi ng mga lawyers we in the we we we we in litigation say the the case will sink or swim depending on the evidence and the prosecution

must rely on the strength of its case and not on the weakness of the defense. Ngayon, it is both. It is not only the strength of the prosecution evidence or the strength of the evidence from the house, it also is based on the weakness of evidence or lack of evidence th far of the vice president.

 Kaya kailangan nailangan natin ang pretrial. At kailangan natin ang trial brief. Meron ba talaga kayong evidence? Kasi kung here say lahat yan o kung hindi naman sila magpro-produce ng records, ito that would be an absolute waste of public resources. Well, ang mangyayari lang diyan instead of evidence magiging debate it will be a debate between the allies and the nonallies. It will be debate.

 Magiging pagandahan na lang ng rhetoric, pagandahan na lang ng speech because they will try to make noise >> to drown the silence of lack of evidence. Yan angang diyan. It will be a gymnastics of sorts.