By el Amigo
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate on Friday ordered the removal of the livestream of the first half of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial after a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) official raised concerns over the disclosure of revenue officers’ names.
Presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero directed the clerk of court to take down the original video and upload a redacted version after BIR chief of staff Atty. Anne Loraine Garcia-Marquez pointed out that the Letters of Authority (LOAs) presented by the defense showed the identities of BIR personnel.
“The chair has already ordered the clerk of court to take down the original live stream and re-upload it with the redaction of the names of the revenue officers,” Escudero said.
Garcia-Marquez earlier stressed that the names should have been removed from the documents before they were presented to the impeachment court.
Escudero cited the public nature of the proceedings but warned that disclosing such information could violate provisions of the Data Privacy Act and potentially compromise the security of government officials performing their duties.
He reminded both prosecution and defense lawyers, as well as media organizations, to exercise caution when showing information from the proceedings, particularly names and addresses.
ia/xf
