For House Lead Public Prosecutor Gerville Luistro, it’s not surprising when the defense team skips the cross-examination of the two witnesses regarding the alleged misuse of confidential funds.

The two witnesses who appeared before the Senate impeachment court on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, were both former branch managers of the LandBank of the Philippines — Violeta Contantino of the Shaw Boulevard branch and Nenita Camposano of the DepEd branch.

“Ako, hindi ako na-surprise because the subject matter of the testimony is the encashment of the check and it is completely documented, noh? So how else will you conduct a cross-examination on these witnesses who are merely testifying on the process that was done concerning the encashment?” Luistro said

[“I wasn’t surprised because the subject matter of the testimony is the encashment of the check and it is completely documented, right? So how else will you conduct a cross-examination on these witnesses who are merely testifying on the process that was done concerning the encashment?”]

According to Defense Panel Spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa, they limit the cross-examination to the witnesses of the prosecution on Day 10 of the impeachment trial as a part of their legal strategy.

House Prosecution Panel Member and Iloilo 3rd District Rep. Lorenz Defensor is delighted with the defense panel’s move.

“Yun sana ang gusto natin na maintindihan ng mga tao, sa simpleng paraan na hindi na nating kailangang palawigin pa,” he said

[“That’s what we want the public to understand, in a simple way without needing to prolong it.”]

The lawmaker also characterized the testimonies of the two LandBank branch managers as a good start.

“Sa palagay namin, mahusay na simula ito. Sa simula’t simula palang, ang mga banko na pinaggalingan ng 612.5 million na cash ay unusual, and like I said, unusual is a perfect start for confidential funds,”

[“We think this is a great start. From the very beginning, the 612.5 million cash from the banks was unusual, and like I said, unusual is a perfect start for confidential funds.”]

Next week, two officials from the Commission on Audit (COA) are set to appear in the impeachment court and take the witness stand regarding the audit of the confidential funds spending of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) when VP Duterte was a Secretary at that time.

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