THE prosecution panel is set to present the original closed circuit television (CCTV) footage on the murder of American serviceman George Anikow as the hearing resumes today at the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC).

Public Prosecutor Hannah Arriola said that the presentation of the original CCTV footage is necessary to authenticate the copy of the video clips submitted by Rockwell Command Center to the Makati City Police investigators.

“This is to make sure that the video presented during the hearing was a faithful reproduction of the original CCTV footage that was turned over to the Makati police investigators the day after the killing occurred,” she told The Manila Times.

She said the original CCTV footage together with a video operator from the Rockwell Command Center was already subpoenaed by Makati City RTC Branch 59 Judge Winlove Dumayas.

In the last hearing of the case, the judge allowed the prosecution panel to present the 10-minuter video clips of the incident which showed that Anikow was mauled and subsequently killed by the accused.

The video clip was furnished to the investigators upon the directive of Damasino Dosonan Jr., the detachment commander of the Rockwell Center.

During his testimony, Dosonan said that he ordered Dominador Royo, the duty officer at the Command Center, to burn the CCTV footage of the incident after it was requested by the Makati police.

But defense lawyers questioned the authenticity of the CCTV footage and asked the court that the original copy should be presented for comparison purposes.

Defense lawyer Miguel Damaso, counsel for accused Juan Alfonso argued that although they have the same copy of the video footage, this does not warranty its authenticity.

“How would we know if the video presented was not tampered if we don’t compare it with the original CCTV footage?” he asked.

Arriola explained that the CCTV footage is vital in building up the case as this would be the basis of the testimony of the prosecution’s primary witness, security guard Romel Saavedra.

“We want to settle first the authenticity of the CCTV footage as this will be the basis of the testimony of our main witness,” she added.

Once the original video presented, the prosecution panel will also present a video enhancer from the National Bureau of Investigation to enhance the CCTV footage to determine who really stabbed Anikow to death.