SC Clears Path for Duterte Impeachment Trial

SC Clears Path for Duterte Impeachment Trial

By Bing Jabadan – TheNATIONWEEK.com | August 6, 2026

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court has dismissed Vice President Sara Duterte’s petitions challenging House impeachment proceedings, clearing the way for her Senate impeachment trial to proceed without further legal hurdles. The high court ruled that Duterte’s consolidated petitions, along with those filed by a group of lawyers, became moot upon the House of Representatives’ transmittal of the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate. This decision effectively ends defense claims that the House inquiry constituted a “mini-trial” or “fishing expedition.”

Audit Exposes OVP Confidential Fund Irregularities

During the 13th day of the Senate impeachment trial, explosive testimony from former Commission on Audit–Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO) auditor Roderick Wamil illuminated alleged misuse of confidential funds. Wamil testified that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) under Duterte was unprecedented in refusing to receive an Audit Observation Memorandum from COA, citing the absence of an authorized person. He further revealed that the OVP was the sole agency, among over 30 audited in his decade-long career, to rely solely on acknowledgment receipts without official receipts for confidential fund liquidations.

Conflict of Interest Raised Against Defense Counsel

A potential conflict of interest emerged as Wamil testified that defense counsel Michael Poa attended a 2023 meeting with COA officials regarding the Department of Education’s confidential funds liquidation while simultaneously serving under the OVP. Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo questioned the propriety of Poa’s dual role, a matter Presiding Officer Francis Escudero indicated the defense could address.

Massive Single-Day Disbursements Questioned

Senator-judge Francis Pangilinan highlighted a startling 111 disbursements by the OVP, totaling P17 million in confidential funds, all on a single day: December 23, 2022. Wamil affirmed the unusual nature of such a volume of transactions within a 24-hour period.

Padilla Links Funds to Counter-Insurgency

In a contrasting perspective, Senator-judge Robin Padilla suggested the timing of three P125 million confidential fund releases between late 2022 and early 2023 might correlate with CPP-NPA and NDF founding anniversaries, implying a potential counter-insurgency purpose.

Court Rulings Advance Trial

The impeachment court accepted as established fact the regularity of House committee hearings on Duterte’s confidential funds, meaning prosecutors are not required to re-prove that these hearings occurred. However, Presiding Officer Escudero clarified that this ruling does not validate statements made during those hearings. The court also granted the transfer of exhibit markings for portions of an Arturo Lascañas affidavit, though its contents remain classified as hearsay. Furthermore, the defense has been ordered to review 4,492 acknowledgment receipts submitted by the OVP and DepEd to COA, providing an opportunity for further evidence stipulation.

The prosecution has begun presenting its fourth witness, COA-ICFAO state auditor Xylene Del Campo, whose testimony is set to continue next week as the impeachment trial progresses.

Prosecutors Push for Streamlined Trial, Defense Documents Utilized

House private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan advocated for streamlining the impeachment trial by utilizing documents submitted by the defense team. Kapunan proposed that relying on a shared set of documents could foster trust and eliminate repetitive comparisons, stating, “We will use their documents because we are certain that their documents are the same as our documents. Let’s use the defense’s documents, your honor.”

Sotto’s “Confidential” vs. “Restricted” Query Sparks Debate

Senator-Judge Vicente “Tito” Sotto III inquired about changing the term “confidential” to “restricted” for funds, citing potential abuse due to perceived semantic overlap with “intelligence” funds. Presiding Officer Chiz Escudero disallowed Sotto from seeking opinions from counsel but permitted him to ask the witness, who declined to answer due to a lack of authorization.

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