House prosecutor Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua has called out on Tuesday, Aug. 18 hostile witness Gina Acosta's inability to speak and understand Filipino for the charade that he thinks it is.

Chua was referring to the former Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursing officer's (SDO) testimony before senator-judges Monday, Aug. 18 during day 16 of Vice President Sara Duterte's ongoing Senate impeachment trial.

Speaking in an online press conference, Chua theorized that the language issue seen during Acosta's testimony was just a strategy of the OVP.

“Malinaw na strategy lang ito para pamali-mali siya, para kunwari hindi niya naiintindihan ang mga tanong,” the Manila lawmaker said.

(It is clearly just a strategy to justify her mistakes, to make it seem like she does not understand the questions.)

He based this assessment on Acosta’s November 2024 appearance before the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, where he said she answered questions about the OVP's confidential funds use in both Filipino and English without difficulty.

Chua chairs the particular committee, the 2024 findings of which served as basis for the filing of impeachment complaints against Duterte.

Acosta, who remains employed by the OVP, was declared a hostile prosecution witness before her direct examination on Monday. She initially answered frequently in Cebuano and requested translations of some questions--something that prosecutors found puzzling.

This supposed language barrier emerged while private prosecutor Amando Virgil Ligutan was grilling her about the OVP's physical and financial plan, the withdrawal of P125 million, the money's transport in four bags, and its turnover to then-Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) chief Col. Raymund Dante Lachica.

Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo later cited the transcript of Acosta’s House testimony and questioned why she appeared to struggle with Filipino during the trial.

After Tulfo's intervention, Chua said Acosta magically became better with Filipino and English.

“Naalala ko noong hearing, noong ako po ang chairman, ang galing naman ng kanyang mga sagot. Mapa-Tagalog, mapa-English ang tanong sa kanya, nauunawaan niya at ganoon din ang sagot niya,” he said.

(I remember during the hearing, when I was the chairman, her answers were excellent. Whether the questions were in Tagalog or in English, she understood them and answered accordingly.)

To hammer home his point, Chua contrasted that record with Acosta's initial presentation before the impeachment court Monday.

“Biglang all of a sudden, hindi na marunong mag-Tagalog, hindi na marunong mag-English,” he said rather incredulously.

(All of a sudden, she no longer knew Tagalog, she no longer knew English.)

“Noong napagalitan, biglang gumaling mag-Tagalog at nakakasagot na nang maayos,” Chua noted.

(When she was scolded, she suddenly became good at speaking Tagalog and was able to answer properly.)

Private prosecutor Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. said the senator-judges could consider Acosta’s manner of answering when weighing her credibility.

"Kung ano yung intention, bakit ginawa yun, siguro sa akin na lang, I'll just again direct your attention doon sa naging observation ni Sen. Tulfo kahapon na nung sinabi nga po niya, tama na po itong panloloko sa atin," Tolosa said.

(Whatever the intention was, why that was done, perhaps for me, I’ll just again direct your attention to Senator Tulfo’s observation yesterday when he said, enough of this deception against us.)

Acosta's testimony was presented by the prosecution as evidence under article I of the articles of impeachment. The particular article alleged that Duterte’s offices misused a total of P612.5 million in confidential funds between December 2022 and the third quarter of 2023.