00:00And this is why all of these pawns and castles and horses and bishops point to only one person, and
00:09that accountable person is the vice president.
00:11And that is why, Your Honor, in lieu of presenting 15 other witnesses, we will be presenting the vice president
00:20herself.
00:23As regards use, misuse, misappropriation of confidential funds, which is Article 1 of the Articles of Impeachment, in that kind
00:39of request.
00:41Because, just on five points, because the Constitution prohibits this kind of testimonial compulsion from the accused herself.
00:51I know that the response would be, this is sui generis, this is not exactly a purely criminal proceeding.
00:59But nonetheless, when Section 17, Article 3 of our 1987 Constitution, put in that guarantee that no person shall be
01:09compelled to testify against himself or to be a witness,
01:12or that there should not be a testimonial compulsion from the accused herself, it did not qualify that provision.
01:23The defense invoked the constitutional rights of the respondent.
01:28We wish to invoke as well, that even the Filipino people whom we represent are entitled to these constitutional rights.
01:36The Filipino people, Your Honor, have the right to hear the answer of the respondent vice president to all these
01:44four allegations under the Articles of Impeachment.
01:47That is for the record, Your Honor.
01:49First of all, if you're honest, please, I think it's very clear that this is not a criminal trial.
01:54This is an impeachment trial where the outcome will only determine whether the vice president can continue to serve as
02:03vice president,
02:03and whether there will be any perpetual disqualification imposed on her.
02:08No imprisonment, no fine, no other element of criminal case is involved in this impeachment trial.
02:17So one is on medical leave abroad, with the date of her return still unknown.
02:23The other is in hiding.
02:26Two are under the custody of the Sandigan Bayan or the Bureau of Jail Management.
02:35My question as a presiding officer is this.
02:39Considering the changing calendar and expedited proceedings, if we were to cast our votes
02:46two or three months from now or next month or even tomorrow,
02:52who among our members can validly cast their votes on the final question?
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