Prosecution may not present all 100 witnesses, says Palace aide

MANILA, Philippines—An aide to President Benigno Aquino said Saturday she does not think the prosecution will actually present all of the more than 100 persons it has included on a list of the witnesses it intends to present at the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Abigail Valte, a lawyer and one of President Aquino’s spokespersons, said it is a common practice of listing all potential witnesses because leaving out any could preclude their presentation if doing so becomes necessary in the course of a trial.

“So it looks like this list isn’t the final roster of those that they will present. We will see in the course of the trial whether the prosecution will use, will call these witnesses or not,” Valte said in an interview over state-run radio station dzRB.

Valte said the list was in compliance with an order of the impeachment court for both sides to submit a list of their respective witnsses and documents they intend to present.

“It’s up to the prosecution if they will present all of them or not,” Valte said. “It wouldn’t hurt if they would include them on the list even though in the future they wouldn’t be presented.”