In what may be the courtroom equivalent of a smash ace from Alex Eala, the House prosecution panel decided to waive a redirect examination and rest its witness, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent John Mark Calilung, before the Senate impeachment court on Wednesday, July 8.

Lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan, counsel for the House prosecutors, told presiding officer Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero that the panel saw no reason to further question Calilung after the respondent Vice President Sara Duterte's defense lawyers completed their cross-examination Wednesday afternoon.

Ligutan, in a savage remark, claimed that the side of the respondent showed "utter failure...to debunk the material points testified to by the witness yesterday (Tuesday)", during direct examination.

With the redirect skipped, the defense lawyers were left scratching their heads with no opportunity for a re-cross examination.

Minutes earlier, the defense manifested to Escudero that it intended to do a re-cross on Calilung, perhaps to get a second crack at discrediting him. At that time, the respondent's camp was convinced that prosecutors would do a redirect, since Ligutan said they would.

Calilung was able to confirm before the senator-judges during direct examination Tuesday a video supporting the allegation that Duterte made death threats to President Marcos and other members of the First Family on Nov. 23, 2024.

Defense lawyer Carlo Joaquin Narvasa took exception to Ligutan’s statement and moved to have it stricken from the record. However, Escudero deferred a ruling, and said the matter would first be verified against the official journal.

Narvasa was the one who carried out the cross on the NBI agent. Calilung was excused from the witness stand afterward.

During his two-day testimony, the cybercrime investigator presented and identified the digital evidence for Article IV of the articles of impeachment.

This covered the allegation that Duterte made grave threats against President Marcos First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

House prosecution panel "layman" spokesperson Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong says the cross-examination is the defense’s principal opportunity to test the credibility of a witness and expose inconsistencies in the prosecution’s evidence.

However, he said Narvasa's cross-examination "failed to create any material issue that required clarification".

“The witness remained composed, consistent, and unwavering on every material point. After hours of cross-examination, the testimony stood exactly where it stood before the defense began its questioning,” Adiong said of Calilung.

House prosecutor San Juan City lone district Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora said it was only natural for the defense lawyers to question the NBI agent's credibility.

However, they failed to shake Calilung’s direct testimony, and weren't given a redo with the absence of a redirect.

She also noted that Calilung answered questions from senator-judges.

“Narinig din po natin ang mga tanong ng ating senator judges at lahat naman po ng kanilang katanungan ay nasagot ni John Mark Calilung (We also heard the questions of our senator judges, and all of their questions were answered by John Mark Calilung) from questions regarding his training, questions regarding the investigation he conducted, and questions regarding the threats which he investigated,” Zamora said.

The solon-prosecutor cited Calilung’s answer near the end of his testimony, when he was asked about whether Duterte’s alleged threat was conditional or absolute.

“Ang last statement po ni agent John Mark Calilung ay yung threats po ay absolute (John Mark Calilung's last statement was that the threats were absolute),” Zamora stressed.

Barbers said the conclusion of Calilung’s testimony was a positive development as the prosecution prepares to present more evidence.