Defense’s supposed first witness says views not meant to support any side

MANILA — The law professor who Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense team wanted  subpoenaed said his legal opinions are based on his interpretation of the Constitution and not meant to favor any side. 

Political and constitutional law professor Dean Ralph Sarmiento on Thursday declined the defense team’s request for the impeachment court to issue a subpoena for him to testify as its first witness.

“I’m not expressing these opinions to favor any particular person or candidate. I am expressing my opinions because that is what I believe the Constitution says,” Sarmiento told ANC’s Dateline. 

The professor has made several posts on legal issues surrounding the trial, including the court’s ruling lowering the voting threshold from 16 to two-thirds of the participating senators and the prosecution’s dropping of three articles.

He said he initially expressed his willingness to testify on constitutional and legal issues related to Duterte’s trial. “But I never expected that it would be framed and understood in a different manner by the public or by the media that I would be testifying as a witness for the defense,” he said.

Sarmiento said he is willing to be called by the impeachment court, similar to amici curiae or “friends of the court” who previously shared their legal opinions on lowering the voting threshold. 

“If either side will put me on the stand for the purpose of being examined for my opinions, that’s different. The impression it created, I think it’s different,” he added, noting that he would also not have agreed to take the witness stand for the prosecution.

The constitutional analyst said he has reached out to the defense team to clarify his position.

“As an independent constitutional analyst, I would like to listen to both sides, examine the constitutional and legal issues involved and then to make my own independent determination in order to participate in the public discussion,” Sarmiento said. 

Asked what he makes of those who interpret his social media posts as siding with the vice president, Sarmiento said: “I do not take any political position.”

He also stressed that the impeachment court’s decision to lower the voting threshold will not only apply to Duterte, but also to any president, ombudsman, member of the constitutional commissions and Supreme Court who will face an impeachment trial.

The impeachment court has said its decision on the threshold is not binding on future courts.