THE Sandiganbayan has approved a request by government prosecutors to present the testimony of a witness in a graft trial via remote video conferencing from another country.
In a resolution issued on January 3, 2024, the anti-graft court’s Third Division held the practice is still allowed under the guidelines set by the Supreme Court for an alternative mode to in-court proceedings to ensure the continuity of judicial processes even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As of writing, the Supreme Court has not revoked the Guidelines despite the lifting of the state of public health emergency throughout the Philippines due to COVID-19,” the court pointed out.
The prosecution said the witness, Dr. Farrah-Arsenia Agustin-Bunch, will testify in the graft charge for undue injury based on the original complaint she filed against former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Nela Charade Puno.
They explained that remote testimony is unavoidable because the witness-complainant is now residing in Sherman, Texas in the United States where she is the primary care provider for her mother-in-law who is suffering from Alzheimer’s dementia.
They added that Bunch is also a nursing mother to her one-year-old child and has three other children aged three, nine, and ten.
Prosecutors assured the court that the Consulate General of the Philippines in Texas has indicated its willingness to allow the use of its facilities for the videoconferencing asking only to be furnished a court order for the procedure at least a week ahead to give it time to prepare.
Records show that the FDA under Puno shut down the Dr Farrah Agustin Bunch Natural Medical Center in Tarlac in 2018 based on a court-ordered search of the facility that reportedly yielded unregistered health products that it had been selling to patients.
In its resolution, the Sandiganbayan set the reception of the testimony via videoconferencing on January 17, 2024 at 8:30 a.m.
