The prosecution in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial is doing the right thing in being careful about putting her former security officer Col. Raymund Lachica on the witness stand, according to former Senate President Franklin Drilon.
Drilon, a lawyer and veteran of two impeachment trials, also said that if asked, he would advise the prosecution to let the defense call Lachica as a witness instead.
Drilon said this is because the prosecution does not know what Lachica would say, and should he lie on the stand, the prosecution would have no way to counter this.
“The first rule in cross-examination, do not ask a question the answer to which you do not know, because if the witness will lie, you have no way of disputing it,” he said on Bilyonaryo News Channel’s “On Point.”
Lachica is the former head of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group, to whom the P500 million in confidential funds were turned over.
A top aide of Duterte said it is only the Vice President and Lachica who know how the funds were spent.
Drilon said he supports the prosecution’s prudence on the matter of Lachica, as it is still assessing whether to call him as a witness.
This would be a very crucial decision as it could undo what the prosecution has so far shown, he noted.
If he were to be asked for his views, he said he would tell the prosecution not to put Lachica on the stand anymore unless there is something they want to prove from his testimony.
“Let him be presented by the defense. I would expect the defense to review the possibility of having Lachica be on the witness stand and be able to testify. And the prosecution will have to cross-examine him extensively, I would guess,” he said.
Earlier, prosecution spokesperson Benjamin Tolosa Jr. said the prosecution has to tread carefully in presenting a hostile witness like Lachica because it would not know if he is lying.
Private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan noted that Lachica had not previously testified before the House of Representatives, and the prosecution would not be able to easily cross-check his testimony before the Impeachment Court with transcripts from the House of Representatives.
Kapunan also said he may not want to incriminate himself and might lie on the stand.