Trillanes: I asked prosecution to withdraw my name as witness in Sara Duterte trial - GMA Network

Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Thursday clarified that it was he who asked the House prosecution panel to withdraw his name from being a witness in the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

“Earlier in the day, I requested the House prosecution under Chair Jinky Luistro to formally withdraw my name as a witness for the prosecution. This way, the prosecution panel would be relieved from the pressure it is going through,” said Trillanes in a statement posted on his Facebook account.

He said that he would instead have a press briefing on Friday.

“Having said that, magko-conduct ako ng press con bukas para i-presenta lahat ng ilalabas ko dapat sa impeachment trial,” he added.

(Having said that, I will conduct a press conference tomorrow to present everything I am supposed to expose during the impeachment trial.)

The former senator made the statement after House lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro made the manifestation during Day 32 of the trial.

"The prosecution has finally decided not to present former senator Sonny Trillanes. We seek the kind indulgence of the honorable impeachment court for the belated final position on this particular concern," Luistro said.

But she did not immediately cite a specific reason behind this decision.

Earlier this week, the House prosecution panel sought for Trillanes to stand as their next witness in relation to funds and bank accounts as the impeachment court tackles Duterte's alleged unexplained wealth.

However, Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis "Chiz" Escudero rejected the request to issue a subpoena to Trillanes.

The impeachment court did not hold a trial on Wednesday to take a “strategic procedural pause."

In an earlier Facebook post, Trillanes said that it should be the senator-judges who should decide if his testimonies are acceptable.

“Marami akong ilalabas na mga bagong mabibigat na ebidensya laban kay Sara. Let the Senator-judges and the people decide kung makabuluhan ang mga ito o hindi,” he said on Wednesday.

(I will release a lot of new, heavy evidence against Sara. Let the Senator-judges and the people decide whether these are significant or not.) —AOL, GMA News