The defense panel of Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday maintained that it had denied allegations that Duterte had communicated with a person to carry out the killing of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
During the fourth day of Duterte’s impeachment trial, Senator-Judge Bam Aquino questioned defense counsel Atty. Mark Vinluan on whether the defense had explicitly denied the allegation that the Vice President had allegedly contracted someone to commit the act.
“We deny that, Your Honor,” Vinluan said.
Vinluan added that the allegation was inaccurate and that the defense would present evidence to counter the claims.
“That is not accurate, Your Honor, and we will present evidence or counter-evidence,” he said.
Aquino sought clarification on whether the defense’s previous answers included a direct denial that Duterte had contracted or spoken with a person for such a purpose.
“We denied it, Your Honor. We denied it in our answer, which we filed before the Senate Impeachment Court,” Vinluan responded.
When Aquino noted that the defense’s response appeared to be a general denial, Vinluan said they maintained both general and specific denials.
“That was the general denial and there were also specific denials,” Vinluan said.
Aquino said he would review the official records to verify the defense’s statement before returning to the matter.
