Private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan says hostile witnesses like former Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursing officer (SDO) Gina Acosta could get "coached" during breaks in testimony--something that's fairly common in the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Acosta, who remains employed by the OVP, was presented as a hostile witness by the prosecution panel during day 16 of the trial last Monday, Aug. 17. She didn't get to finish her testimony.

Since the incessant rains cancelled the trial dates on Tuesday and Wednesday, the court would have to wait until next week to hear the rest of Acosta's statements, particularly on her principal's alleged misuse of P612.5 million worth of confidential funds.

Kapunan said Wednesday that if the testimony and examination of the witness were interrupted or postponed, it would open the possibility of coaching.

“Ang mahirap pag puputulin ang testimony, lalo na ng isang hostile witness ay puwedeng i-coach. Puwedeng sabihin ng lawyers, bakit mo sinabi yun, ito ang dapat mong sabihin. We don’t want that to happen. Nangyayari yan kung napuputol ang testimony at mako-coach o bibigyan ng dapat na sagot siguro ng defense team ang mga witness,” she said.

(The difficulty with cutting off the testimony, especially of a hostile witness, is that they can be coached. Lawyers can say, why did you say that, this is what you should say. We don’t want that to happen. That happens when the testimony is interrupted and the witness can be coached or given the supposed answers by the defense team.)

However, the experienced litigator of nearly 50 years clarified that she did not want to impute bad faith on anyone.

"Not to preempt bad faith or preempt malice, but it is better na continuous, continuous ang direct, continuous ang cross, redirect, recross ng isang witness sa…isang araw, yun ang ideal,” she said.

(But it is better if it’s continuous, continuous direct, continuous cross, redirect, and recross of a witness in one day, that’s the ideal.)

Acosta is the first hostile witness to take her oath on the stand in the high-stakes proceedings.

Acosta testified that Duterte instructed her to turn over P125 million in confidential funds to Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, then head of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) and the OVP’s designated security officer.

For the prosecution, this directly implicated the respondent in the misuse of the public money, especially since Lachica isn't the SDO.

Simply put, Kapunan said longer hearings would make it more feasible to complete a witness’ testimony without lengthy breaks.

“And that can be achieved kung mag-uusapan tayo ng 3 o’clock hanggang sawa,” she said.

(And that can be achieved if we can agree to start hearings at 3 p.m. up until we quit.)

Under the current set-up of the Senate impeachment court, hearing and held every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

It was Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri who suggested Monday to start future hearings at 3 p.m. and have them last up to the late hours of the evening.