The Sandiganbayan has allowed government prosecutors to present through video conferencing their witness in the graft case filed against former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) director general Nela Charade G. Puno.
The former FDA head was charged in the 2018 closure of the Dr. Farrah Agustin Bunch Natural Medical Center in Tarlac. The FDA claimed the medical center sold unregistered health products to patients.
The prosecution told the anti-graft court that its witness Dr. Farrah-Arsenia Agustin-Bunch is in Texas, United States and cannot come to the Philippines because she is a nursing mother to a one-year-old baby, has three other minor children, and takes care of her ailing mother.
In a resolution, the court allowed the prosecution to present Dr. Agustin-Bunch as a witness via video conferencing during a hearing starting at 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 17.
It directed the prosecution “to coordinate with the Philippine Consulate General in Houston, Texas, USA to ensure the presence of Dr. Agustin-Bunch on the said date.”
The Sandiganbayan said that video conferencing, as alternative mode to in-court proceedings, may be resorted to under the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court.
"The prosecution was able to prove that the presentation of the proposed witness, Dr. Agustin-Bunch, is covered by the SC guidelines," it said.
The seven-page resolution was written by Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang with the concurrence of Associate Justices Bernelito R. Fernandez and Ronald B. Moreno.