At the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, an emotional Cayetano took a jab at the prosecution over its line of questioning of a defense witness who is a parent of a young athlete.
Cayetano, an athlete and sports advocate, appeared to take personally the questions of House prosecutor Reynaldo Robles for witness Chadrin Parian, expressing her “disdain” over the line of questioning.
“I will not hide my disdain. I cannot,” Cayetano told Robles.
Parian, whose children belong to the same basketball team as Duterte’s husband, Manases Carpio, testified during the trial on Thursday, November 12, to explain the P256,000 credit card charge Carpio incurred at a Nike store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Parian said Carpio had voluntarily offered to pay for the team’s shoes after their international competition.
Robles scrutinized Parian’s explanation, asking whether the witness considered it appropriate for a relative of a public official to spend more than P250,000 on a single purchase, given the constitutional provision directing public officials and their families to lead modest lives.
“My children were 6 and 9 years old when I served my first term as senator. If this happened then, you would impress upon me that, as a law-abiding citizen, I should not put my kids in sports because I will be criticized,” an emotional Cayetano said.
