Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense team objected to the House prosecution panel’s planned presentation of an SEC-prepared document, arguing that its title and figures could give the public a misleading impression about the vice president’s personal shareholdings.
Defense lawyer Atty. Justin Nicol Gular raised the objection during the 27th day of the impeachment trial on Tuesday, questioning the use of the heading “Summary of VP Sara Duterte Shareholdings.” He pointed out that the document also contained figures representing the authorized, subscribed and paid-up capital of corporations.
Gular argued that presenting those amounts alongside Duterte’s shareholdings without a clear distinction could lead viewers to attribute the corporations’ capital to the vice president.
“This is precisely why we need to object, clearly this is again an attempt—and apologies to use the term— to condition the mind of the public over these figures that will be flashed,” said Gular.
He described the presentation as a “misrepresentation” and said the manner in which the figures were presented was unfair to Duterte during the proceedings.
“This is unfair, and this shouldn’t be done to the vice president especially in these proceedings,” he said.
Private prosecutor Atty. Erwin Matib disputed the defense’s objection, saying the SEC document already contained a separate column identifying Duterte’s specific shareholdings. He also noted that the records indicated when the vice president did not appear as an incorporator or director of a company.
“So hindi po misleading itong summary and in fact kung may mga kumpanya po na hindi nakabanggit—malinaw naman nababasa na VP Sara does not appear as an incorporator or director,” said Matib.
“So wala pong misleading sa nilalaman ng summary,” he added.
Presiding Judge Francis Escudero ultimately allowed the prosecution to present the evidence but ordered the removal of the main heading because some of the figures did not exclusively refer to Duterte’s personal shareholdings.
