Law dean Tranquil Salvador III said Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte’s testimony showed his lack of personal knowledge about Gencorp’s dealings with the city government, and the prosecution needs witnesses with direct knowledge of the Dutertes to link his statements to the allegations against his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte.
Salvador, a defense counsel in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, said Sebastian’s lack of involvement was the “strongest” point that he made when he testified in the impeachment trial.
“Therefore, he has no personal knowledge, he is not even in a position to say anything there,” Salvador said on Bilyonaryo News Channel’s “On Point.”
Sebastian said he did not know about the Vice President’s ties to Gencorp and did not check the records of the company, which won 19 contracts from the city government starting in 2022.
Salvador said that with this testimony, the prosecution has to find witnesses who could directly link Sebastian to the allegations against the Vice President.
“Ang dapat, ito lang pananaw ko, mag-isip sila ng paraan paano nila mako-connect-connect iyan. Medyo that woud require a little bit of work, a little bit of anaylsis, trying to reach out to the right people who will say this,” he said.
He also said these witnesses must have direct knowledge and should not be speaking based on hearsay.
“This would be the people who would have known them, who have personal relationships with them and in a position to say this. Either business relationships or personal relationships,” he said.
Gencorp came under scrutiny in the Vice President’s impeachment trial in relation to unexplained wealth allegations. She listed herself as a stockholder of the company.
Sebastian was put on the stand in the trial after it was found that Gencorp won contracts from Davao City while Sara was serving as Vice President.