Did Sarmiento’s withdrawal as first defense witness hurt VP Sara’s case? Poa responds

MANILA — The withdrawal of former law school dean Ralph Sarmiento as a defense witness is “not damaging” to Vice President Sara Duterte, defense spokesperson Michael Poa said on Monday, about a week after the legal expert backed out from a verbal agreement to appear before the Senate impeachment court.

Sarmiento earlier cited personal reasons for his withdrawal, adding that he had a change of mind after discussing the issue with his family.

“Hindi naman siya nakaapekto talaga sa kaso natin, although aaminin ko na siyempre, disappointed din ako personally hindi namin siya napresent,” Poa told reporters in a press conference.

“Wala namang bad blood or anything. Nirespeto natin talaga. Kung ‘yun ang nararamdaman niya, ayoko naman pilitin,” he said.

“To be very candid, it was a matter of courtesy and goodwill on our part… It wasn’t damaging for us that he didnt testify so it wasnt a deal breaker for us,” he said.

The defense team is also not casting aspersions on the Senate impeachment court for releasing some 24 defense witnesses ahead of the trial’s resumption this week, Poa said.

“Initially when I looked at it napaisip ako kung paano ba ito, nalabas ang mga pangalan, mga addresses pero to be fair to the impeachment court, noong time ng prosecution inannounce din nila in open court yung witnesses for the following week,” he said.

“It’s the lookout of the defense just to make sure that these witnesses that we have subpoenaed will show up… Confident naman tayo going forward na sisipot naman yung ating mga witnesses.”

Suzette Punay — the private counsel of GenCorp Industries Corp — was supposed to appear as a witness ahead of Davao City Assessor Jaime Adalin, but asked for her attendance to be rescheduled, citing a need to undergo an MRI test.

“We need to prioritize the health of witnesses… that’s why immediately we filed a manifestation with the impeachment court. Humingi kami kay Atty. Suzette ng MRI referral or any document to show she was really undergoing an MRI,” the defense spokesperson said.

“She only asked for Monday to be excused.. she never asked to be excused for any other day so confident naman ako na she will testify,” he said.