The spokesperson for the Senate impeachment court said Thursday that individuals issued a subpoena during the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte are legally required to comply, and that ignoring it may result in contempt of court.
Atty. Reginald Tongol said this, following the court’s issuance of a subpoena ad testificandum to Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief of staff Zuleika Lopez, among others, upon the request of the House prosecution panel.
“‘Yun ang tinatawag natin na compulsory process ng korte. Kapag pinapa-subpoena ka, wala kang karapatang tumanggi except for certain exceptions,” Tongol said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.
(That’s what we call the compulsory process of the court. When you are subpoenaed, you have no right to refuse except for certain exceptions.)
“Kapag walang relevance ‘yung testimony mo; kapag sina-subpoena ka lang for you to be harassed and vexed; at ‘yung subpoena ay mali ang pagkaka-issue, hindi naman dapat ikaw ‘yun o kaya naman sa ibang kaso ‘yun… or walang definiteness ‘yung subpoena so pwedeng i-attack ‘yung subpoena,” he added.
(You can ignore it if your testimony has no relevance; when you are subpoenaed just for you to be harassed and vexed; if the subpoena is wrongly issued; or if the subpoena has no definiteness so you can challenge it.)
He emphasized that those who will not heed the subpoena may be cited in contempt.
“‘Pag di ka sumunod do’n mako-contempt of court ka,” Tongol warned.
(If you don't comply, you will be cited in contempt of court.)
“However, ‘yung mga ini-issue-han ng subpoena na ganyan, nasa rules of court natin ‘yan. Alam na ng mga abogado nila ang gagawin nila diyan para hindi sila umattend kung ayaw nilang umattend.”
(However, issuing such a subpoena is in our rules of court. Their lawyers already know what they're going to do, so their clients won’t attend the trial if they don't want to.)
The prosecution said Lopez, a longtime aide of Duterte, will be testifying on Article 4 of the Articles of Impeachment, which accuses the Vice President of culpable violation of the Constitution, high crimes, betrayal of public trust by contracting for the assassination of the President and his family members by making grave threats, and by actively inciting sedition against the republic.
Aside from Lopez, the prosecution team is expected to present National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) regional director Jeremy Lotoc and House Legislative Security Bureau executive director Belinda Bello as witnesses in the continuation of the trial next week. —AOL, GMA News