In an Oct. 27 filing signed by lead counsel Peter Haynes, the defense said it did not oppose admitting P-1370’s statement but urged the judges to reject the recorded testimonies of P-1393 and P-1416.

There is a festering lethal drug trade in Cebu that the province’s police seem unable to fully deal with and account for, despite its claim of success in its anti-criminality crusade. As long as this is the case, Cebu will remain the center of drug-related killings in the Philippines.

The prosecution maintained throughout the submitted applications that the defense, the trial judges, and common legal representatives of victims will have the opportunity to question the witnesses live at court. They added that granting the requests will expedite the proceedings at trial.