House prosecutor Chel Diokno posted a rebuttal on Facebook clarifying his statements during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, days after Senator Pia Cayetano shared an edited video of his court exchange on her own page.
The Akbayan Party-list representative said he wanted to give the public the full context of what he told the impeachment court. He quoted his complete remark, in which he explained that a fishing expedition could only be said to occur if the party requesting evidence “ay nagbabakasakali lang, baka may makuha tayo dito”—that is, if it were merely trying its luck in hopes of finding something.
The prosecution is not doing that, Diokno stressed. He said there is probable cause found in the records of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) concerning billions of pesos that passed through the accounts of the Vice President and her husband. The prosecution requested bank records to check whether those match what the AMLC reports show, he explained.
Diokno also underscored that bank records can only be released through a court order or subpoena. He argued that if the House had opened Duterte’s actual bank records before the trial, that would have violated her rights and due process. Now that a subpoena has been issued, he said, both sides can use the records to prove their respective cases, allowing the senator-judges to decide based on the totality of the evidence.
The post came in response to a video Cayetano uploaded directly to her official Facebook page on July 24, which carried the captions “Nagbabakasakali lang” and “Walang mga ebidensiya pero nag-aakusa na.” The clip featured edited footage of Diokno’s exchange with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, added a laughing sound effect, and cut short his response. Presiding officer Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero has yet to comment on the matter.
The underlying exchange took place on July 20, the seventh day of the trial, when the Cayetano siblings pressed the prosecution on whether its bid to subpoena Duterte’s bank, BIR, and AMLC records amounted to a fishing expedition. The impeachment court ruled in the prosecution’s favor at the end of that day’s proceedings, granting the twin subpoenas.
