The impeachment trial of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte reached its 22nd day on Monday, September 7, with no verdict in sight and fresh questions about who actually received the confidential funds at the center of the case.
Duterte was impeached for a second time by the House of Representatives on May 11, 2026, on charges of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the constitution, graft and corruption, and bribery tied to the alleged misuse of confidential and intelligence funds from both the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, which she headed at the time. The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court under Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero as presiding officer, has been hearing the case for weeks with no scheduled date for a final ruling.
Tulfo raises the alias question
Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo told the court Monday that the absence of Philippine Statistics Authority records for people listed as having signed for and received Duterte’s confidential funds suggests those names are aliases. PSA Assistant National Statistician Marizza Grande had testified that a number of the payees listed by the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education have no matching birth, marriage, or death records on file, a gap Tulfo said points toward fabricated signatories rather than real recipients.
A hostile witness and a shrinking list of witnesses
The defense panel’s spokesperson, Michael Poa, testified on September 2 and was declared a hostile witness by Escudero after his testimony diverged sharply from what the prosecution expected. Separately, prosecutors have dropped several previously planned witnesses, including Colonels Raymund Lachica and Dennis Nolasco and Ramil Madriaga, a security officer prosecutors had described as an alleged “bagman” for the confidential funds.
No verdict date has been set, and the Senate has given no indication of when deliberations might conclude. The trial continues to draw daily coverage in the Philippines as senator-judges work through testimony from current and former Office of the Vice President staff, auditors, and now government record-keepers being asked to explain gaps in the paper trail.
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