Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano called for greater care in presenting Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) documents during Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, warning that inaccurate or misleading labels could affect how the defense is perceived.
Cayetano raised the concern after the defense objected to a prosecution summary of SEC records concerning Duterte’s business interests. The document was titled “Summary of Vice President Sara Duterte’s Shareholdings,” but defense lawyer Justin Gular pointed out that it also contained financial figures belonging to the companies involved, including their authorized capital stock, subscribed capital and paid-up capital.
“If we’re going to spend the whole morning [and] afternoon looking at these documents tapos mali ‘yong label, it will prejudice, of course, the defense and the Vice President ‘di ba?” Cayetano said.
“If it’s just one page, one mistake, then we can say let’s allow it with that note. But if throughout this trial or throughout this afternoon, may mali ‘yong label or it’s misleading, what’s worse than a misleading question? It’s a misleading document that will be flashed,” he argued.
The issue emerged as Gerardo del Rosario, director of the SEC’s Company Registration and Monitoring Department, was being questioned about records related to Duterte’s business interests. The defense said it had received the prosecution’s summary only earlier that day.
Gular challenged the way the document was labeled and said a quick review showed what he described as “misrepresentation.” He also objected to the presentation of figures that, according to the defense, should not automatically be attributed to Duterte.
Prosecution lawyer Erwin Matib disputed the objection, saying the summary had separate columns identifying figures associated with the companies and those attributable to Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio. He also sought to have Gular’s statements about an alleged effort to influence public perception removed from the record.
Presiding officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero ultimately allowed the summary to be presented but suggested removing its title because the document covered information beyond Duterte’s personal shareholdings. The technical booth was then tasked with redacting the title before the material could be displayed, adding to the delay in the proceedings.
The court also dealt with the language used in the defense’s objection. Escudero ordered that the word “misrepresentation” be replaced with “inaccuracies” in the official record. The phrase “to condition the mind of the public” was likewise changed to “to make conclusions of fact to the public.”
The prosecution panel of the House of Representatives rejected the suggestion that the SEC material was intended to shape public opinion. Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, the panel’s spokesperson, said there was no manipulation or attempt to condition the public’s thinking. Former congressman Robert Ace Barbers, an adviser to the panel, also said the allegations were unfounded and maintained that the testimony was based on documents submitted by the Vice President.
Another issue involving SEC records arose earlier when the defense challenged the inclusion of documents from Pikimong Pikimong Philippines Corp. and JTC Group of Companies. Gular argued that the prosecution had not yet established a link between Duterte and the two companies.
Matib said the prosecution intended to establish such a connection, but Escudero sustained the defense’s objection and excluded the two companies from the evidence at that stage. He left open the possibility of bringing them back into the proceedings and recalling Del Rosario if the prosecution could later provide evidence connecting them to Duterte.
The impeachment court is examining Duterte’s business and financial interests in connection with allegations involving unexplained wealth, inaccuracies in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, and alleged failure to divest from certain financial and business interests.
