Impeachment Trial of VP Sara Duterte

House prosecutors said they were unfazed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. omitting Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment from his State of the Nation Address on July 27, with members of the prosecution panel saying his silence was appropriate while the case remains pending before the Senate sitting as an impeachment court.

Rep. Leila De Lima, a former justice secretary and member of the House prosecution panel, said she expected Marcos to avoid the topic "to show that he is hands off on the impeachment," though she suggested he could have mentioned the need for accountability without directly referencing the trial. Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the President's omission was "a way of respecting the independence of the legislature" and did not diminish calls for accountability, GMA News Online / News reports.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. makes final preparations for his 2026 State of the Nation Address, which he will deliver tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. before a joint session of Congress at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.

Vice President Sara Duterte has ruled out stepping down as her impeachment trial proceeds in the Senate, saying in an interview posted Sunday that resignation "would be like a betrayal to the 32.2 million people who voted for me."

"If PBBM (President Bongbong Marcos) wants, he could try to do everything to remove me from office," she said in remarks posted on the Padayon & Updates Facebook page. The four articles of impeachment against Duterte center on alleged misuse of funds, unexplained wealth, bribery and grave threats. The Senate impeachment court recently subpoenaed her bank, tax and Anti-Money Laundering Council records.

While in London on Saturday to address overseas Filipino workers, Duterte criticized the proliferation of "crocodiles" in government and lamented why Filipinos must work abroad to survive. Her younger brother, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, has alleged the impeachment is aimed at preventing her from running for president in 2028, when one in two Filipinos in a recent Pulse Asia survey picked her over possible opponents, One News reports.

A Social Weather Stations survey conducted from June 20 to 29 found that 70 percent of respondents want Vice President Sara Duterte to address the impeachment charges against her, up from 67 percent in a March poll, according to OneNews. Only 17 percent said she should not address the charges, down from 19 percent.

Awareness of the impeachment proceedings rose to 74 percent from 43 percent in March. Support for Duterte facing the charges increased across all regions except Metro Manila, where it dropped to 70 percent from 74 percent. The survey included 1,200 respondents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent, One News reports.

House prosecutor Chel Diokno said on Saturday that a video posted by Senator-Judge Pia Cayetano omitted context from his remarks during Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial. Diokno defended the prosecution's request for the Vice President's bank records, saying it was not a "fishing expedition" because investigators had found probable cause in Anti-Money Laundering Council reports involving billions of pesos, Reuters is reporting.

Diokno said bank records were sought to determine whether they were consistent with AMLC reports and could only be obtained through a court-issued subpoena. "Now that there is a subpoena for the Vice President's bank records, both sides can use them to prove their respective cases," he said. The Akbayan Party-list accused the Cayetano siblings of circulating a "spliced video" and criticized Pia Cayetano for posting content that echoed the defense's narrative, James Daniel Danio reports for The Manila Times.

Live coverage — House of Representatives Presscon — stream ended.

Live coverage — House of Representatives Presscon — stream ended.

Two 21-year-old public administration students, Sandara Villon and Renz Carl Bayanay, are attending the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte in the Senate plenary to witness the constitutional process firsthand, according to Rappler. The pair told Rappler they plan to attend every Wednesday.

'Everything can be manipulated on the internet. But when you're there physically, you can feel everything, you can see everything. You can judge on your own,' one student said of attending the trial in person. The impeachment court has drawn low public attendance, with only 13% of Filipinos closely monitoring the proceedings, prompting calls for the Senate to engage more with the public.

Senator Robinhood Padilla apologized on Saturday to House prosecutor Terry Ridon after wrongly attributing comments about detained senator-judges during Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial. Padilla had quoted Ridon as saying detained senators should not participate in the trial, but Ridon immediately denied making any such statement.

Padilla acknowledged the error in a Facebook post, saying he confused Ridon's name with Congressman Joel Chua, who actually made the remark. Padilla attributed the mix-up to both men's shared background in progressive or leftist movements. Ridon accepted the apology on Saturday morning, saying both sides should ensure the impeachment trial "is based on truth and faithfulness to our duties for the country and for justice." GMA News Online / News reports.

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Live coverage — Presidential Communications Office press briefing. — stream ended.

Live coverage — Presidential Communications Office press briefing. — stream ended.

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The prosecution panel has completed its presentation of witnesses for the fourth article of impeachable offenses. The next steps involve preparing for subsequent articles, including a confidential function.

The NBI has narrowed down the list of persons of interest to less than 20 in its hunt for the alleged hitman enlisted by Vice President Sara Duterte. 'Too much speaking time?' Senator Raffy Tulfo raised a complaint that minority senators have been given longer speaking time during the impeachment trial. Philippine Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro brought up Ayungin and a racist 'monkey' video during her meeting with China's Wang Yi, addressing grievances against Beijing, Rappler reports.

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The prosecution in Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial concluded its case against her on Article 4, accusing her of contracting the alleged assassination of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and others. National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag served as the last witness for the prosecution. The defense team cross-examined Matibag but did not request a redirect examination. Lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro stated that no further questioning was necessary. Meanwhile, the impeachment court issued subpoenas to various financial institutions and approved new witnesses for future hearings, GMA News reports.

An NBI official told House of Representatives that investigators examined a sworn affidavit from former Davao Death Squad member Arturo Lascañas as part of open-source intelligence gathering.

Defense counsel pressed the witness on whether the agency issued a subpoena or directly verified the document with Lascañas, which the official acknowledged was not done.

"Kaya kung hapo ikinekuento yung bumpangayari para mo makita kung paano mo kami dumating dun sa punto na ginamit po doon sa pattern of violence," the witness said ["That is why I am recounting what happened, so you can see how we arrived at the point where it was used in the pattern of violence"].

Defense counsel questioned the relevance of a 2011 video showing Vice President Sara Duterte confronting a court sheriff during cross-examination on House of Representatives.

An NBI official testified that investigators reviewed the 15-year-old incident under a five-factor framework for establishing an alleged pattern of behavior.

"Under po dung sa five factors namin, ang tiniting na dito nating sa pattern of violence is the historical behavior," the witness said ["Under our five factors, what we look at here in the pattern of violence is historical behavior"].

A lead in the investigation, speaking in impeachment court, mentioned that the level of security of the information is such that it does not need to be known by the cybercrime division, as per a statement made in the presence of multiple officials and attendees at a Philippine Senate session.

The NBI director Melvin Matibag said there is an ongoing investigation into grave threats and inciting to sedition, but no ongoing investigation into alleged threats against VP Sara Duterte. The director also mentioned that no subpoena has been issued under their leadership.

Speaking on Impeachment Traila, the NBI director clarified that the ongoing investigation pertains to the leads on the alleged person involved in the threats against Vice President Sara Duterte, and that no subpena has been issued to such person under his leadership.

Speaking on House of Representatives, the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte has started with the Sergeant at Arms directing all persons to keep silent under pain of penalty while the impeachment court is in session. The clerk of court has been instructed to call the roll., said the Presiding Officer of the Impeachment Court, as seen on the House of Representatives broadcast.

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The prosecution told the press conference on House of Representatives that the National Bureau of Investigation did not treat the VP Sara Duterte threat as a media story — it formed a special task force to investigate it.

A panel member said this showed the threat was taken seriously at the institutional level, not just flagged as a viral video. "Kumikilos na ang aming mga investigative agencies and bodies natin," the prosecutor said ["Our investigative agencies and bodies are already acting on it."] The NBI's special task force formation, the panel argued, independently corroborates its witness's testimony that the threat was "concerted and active."

The prosecution rebutted the defense's hyperbole argument Wednesday by citing what it says is Vice President Sara Duterte's own admission, speaking on House of Representatives.

A member of the prosecution panel said the VP did not merely utter a vague threat in anger — she allegedly identified the targets by name and gave explicit instructions to a person she had already contacted. "Sinabi niya, be relentless, huwag titigil hanggang hindi mo sila napapatay," the prosecutor said ["She said, be relentless, don't stop until you've killed them."] The panel said she named President Bongbong Marcos, Lisa Marcos and Martin Romualdez as the intended targets.

"It will be a completely different story if it was just uttered in a single event," the prosecutor said. The panel argues the VP went further — admitting she had already arranged an agreement to carry out the plan and gave operational instructions.