Prosecution reveals plan to call Sara Duterte to witness stand

MANILA, Philippines — The prosecution panel for Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial has revealed its plan to call her as a hostile witness during the discussions on Article IV or the allegations of making grave threats against ranking officials.

During the second day of the trial held on Tuesday by the Senate Impeachment Court, lawyer Lorna Kapunan, who serves as counsel for the prosecution, inquired whether Duterte — who was seen inside the Senate premises — will attend the trial proper.

Kapunan said that her inquiry is hinged on a manifestation that she will make later, but presiding officer and Senator-judge Francis Escudero told her to reveal her reason for asking, as he is checking whether the question must be forwarded to the defense panel.

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“This is relevant to the presentation that we will be making this afternoon, your Honors.  If this court will recall your own statements, Mr. Presiding Judge, that on Tuesdays, every Tuesday of every week, the prosecution must indicate who the witnesses they intend to present before this court will be.  This is to enable the impeachment court to issue, when appropriate, and if deemed necessary, a subpoena for such witness,” Kapunan said.

“And that is my query this afternoon, because anent the presentation of a witness on the first article that we will be presenting, which is grave threats and acts of sedition, Your Honor, one of the key witnesses, hostile, will be the Vice President,” she added.

According to Kapunan, they will have a formal written request for Duterte to take the witness stand when the court tackles Article V of the Articles of Impeachment.

“And therefore, if we can inquire, if it is her intention to again appear in the premises of the Senate because we are already respectfully informing this Honorable Court that we will manifest, we will have a written request for her presence in connection with this article on grave threats,” she said.

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Escudero no longer asked Duterte’s lawyers to respond, saying that Duterte is not mandated under the rules on impeachment proceedings to attend the trial.  However, Escudero also said that the prosecution is allowed to make a motion later on if they intend to have Duterte as a hostile witness.

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“To answer: the impeachment rules do not mandate nor require the respondent to attend any hearing or trial of the impeachment court whether she was in the building earlier, or arrived after, it is totally up to the respondent because from the point of view of the court, she is represented in this court through her counsel already,” Escudero said.

“Should the counsel for the prosecutor desire to call the respondent herself, the court will act on that motion and request once it is made and or filed, and need not make a ruling at this point in time.  Because of course, when that motion is made, we will ask the counsel for respondent to make a comment and/or reply,” he added.

Kapunan, in reply, said that they will reserve the right to call Duterte to the witness stand.

“Thank you, thank you, sir presiding judge, justice, senator-judge; we yield to the wisdom of your decision.  With that, we will reserve the right; we are not waiving the right to call her at the appropriate time, and to file the appropriate request for subpoena duces tecum and subpoena ad testificandum,” she noted.

READ: Sara Duterte’s threats, bribery allegations replayed at House hearing

After weeks of speculation, the Senate Impeachment Court convened on Monday to start the trial of Duterte, who was impeached by the House last May 11.  A total of 257 House lawmakers voted in favor of adopting House Resolution (HR) No. 989 which contains the Articles of Impeachment while only 25 members voted against, and nine abstained.

The two complaints submitted to the House were consolidated into four grounds in the Articles of Impeachment:

culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and betrayal of public trust through the systematic liquidation misuse, misappropriation, and irregular of confidential funds amounting to P500 million under the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and P112.5 million under the Department of Education (DepEd)

culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust when Duterte amassed unexplained wealth manifestly disproportionate to her lawful income and earnings during her incumbency as a public official

bribery, graft and corruption, culpable violation of the Constitution, and betrayal of public trust when she gave monetary gifts or payments to DepEd officials to induce the violation and circumvention of procurement and other related laws

culpable violation of the Constitution, high crimes, and betrayal of public trust by contracting for the assassination of the President, the First Lady, and the former speaker of the House, by making grave threats, and by actively inciting sedition against the republic

Article IV was the first article that the prosecution presented.  The allegations that Duterte threatened President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez stemmed from an online press briefing last November 23, 2024, after she visited her chief-of-staff, Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez.

Lopez was detained then inside the House premises, after she was cited for contempt by the House committee on good government and public accountability, for supposedly committing undue interference during the panel’s investigation of the alleged confidential fund (CF) misuse within Duterte’s offices.

But instead of leaving the House premises after her visit, Duterte went to her brother’s office and locked herself inside after merely claiming to be leaving durian.

As she was infuriated over Lopez’s detention and subsequent attempts to transfer her, Duterte badmouthed the Marcos couple and Romualdez.  At one point, Duterte was asked if she is concerned about her security; she replied by urging people not to worry since she had contracted an assassin to kill the three if she herself gets killed.

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The matter was then investigated by the NBI.  On Monday, the prosecution said that they will be calling NBI officers to the witness stand: lawyer Jeremy Lotoc, regional director for NBI, and John Mark Calilung, NBI senior agent. /mr