Impeachment Trial of VP Sara Duterte

Speaking on Senate Session, the Land Bank witness said standard cash disbursements at her branch for government employee overtime and contractual pay averaged between 100,000 and 500,000 pesos monthly.

She confirmed she has witnessed single encashments of around 17.5 million pesos at other government agencies. But when pressed by Senator Joel Villanueva on whether DepEd's 37.5 million peso withdrawals fell within normal practice across the public sector, she did not retreat from her earlier testimony that such amounts were unprecedented during her two years managing the DepEd account.

Senator Judge Kiko Pangilinan drew out testimony that the three 37.5 million peso cash cheques to the Education department were significantly larger than typical government agency withdrawals.

Pangilinan asked the Land Bank witness what the usual cash transaction size was for government agencies. The witness said roughly 10 million pesos. "So yung 37 is almost four times more than the usual," Pangilinan said. The witness agreed.

When asked whether other government agencies at the bank made similar large cash withdrawals, the witness said no—and stressed this was the first time she had seen such a large encashment for the Education department in her tenure at Land Bank.

Senator Joel Villanueva pressed the Land Bank witness on whether multiple cash withdrawals of the same size should still be classified as unusual, arguing that successive transactions of that kind would become routine.

Villanueva asked: if the OVP made the withdrawal four times in succession, would it still be unusual? The witness agreed it would not — that such repeated transactions would become "usual na po." [usual now].

This challenges the prosecution's framing of the 125 million peso cash withdrawals as extraordinary. Speaking on Senate Session, Villanueva suggested the witness had applied an individual depositor's threshold to a government agency, where large cash movements are more routine.

Senator Judge Risa Hontiveros pressed the Land Bank witness on the scale of the 125 million peso Office of the Vice President cash withdrawal, establishing it as unprecedented in her experience.

Hontiveros asked whether the witness had ever seen such a large cash withdrawal in her time in the banking industry. The witness replied: "First time po. First time." Hontiveros then asked why the witness had described the amount as "unusual" and what threshold the bank used to classify a withdrawal that way.

The witness said unusually large cash withdrawals typically begin above 500,000 pesos. Hontiveros pressed further, noting that over a 32-year career in banking, "kung masasabi nating pambihirang amount ito in cash, masasabi nating once in a lifetime" [if we can say this is an unusual amount in cash, we can say it is once in a lifetime].

Sen. Risa Hontiveros pressed the Land Bank witness on a central point: the witness had called the 125-million-peso OVP withdrawal unusual, yet also testified in two years at the bank she had never seen a cash withdrawal of that magnitude before. "What is your floor for being unusual?" Hontiveros asked on Senate Session. "What is the minimum amount you need to withdraw in cash before you call it unusual?"

The Land Bank witness told the court that the Office of the Vice President did not request use of an armored car or armored vehicle for the transport of the 125 million pesos in cash, despite standard bank practice for such large withdrawals.

Tulfo noted that when large sums are withdrawn, banks typically offer customers the option of secure transport. "Hindi ka na provay na ganon?" Tulfo asked—did OVP decline such an offer? The witness confirmed: "Hindi po. Wala po kasi kami ng memorandum of agreement. Cust Delivery. Hindi nag-request ang OVP ng Cust Delivery through Armored Vehicle" ["No. We had no memorandum of agreement. Custom delivery. OVP did not request custom delivery through armored vehicle"].

A senator raised a detail dispute in the witness's account of how the 125 million pesos in cash left the bank. The witness initially said the money was placed in three to four bags; the senator pressed whether three or four bags could physically hold 125 kilos of cash, given that each million pesos weighs roughly one kilogram.

The witness stood by her description of "Jim Bags" — large, elongated containers — as the vessels used. The exact number and composition of the bags remains unclear from the exchange.

Senator Erwin Tulfo asked whether the Office of the Vice President's 125-million-peso cash withdrawal was consistent with normal banking practice for government agencies, as testimony concluded on the four cheques and their handling.

The Land Bank manager, testifying on Senate Session, described the withdrawal as "unusual," though she said the bank had no exemption policy that would have allowed the transaction to proceed without standard security protocols.

Tulfo asked whether other government agencies made similar large cash withdrawals. The witness replied: "Marami naman po mga government agencies po sa branch niyo. Pero walang mga ganyito ka lang" ["Many government agencies have accounts with us. But none like this one"].

The Land Bank manager testified that after the 125 million pesos in cheques were encashed, the cash was placed into three or four bags by OVP official Gina Acosta and another person, identified as Limuel Ortonio. No bank employees assisted in carrying the bags, the witness said, citing security protocol. "It's against bank policy," she testified, "para hands-off na po ang banko once na ma-release sa po ang physical cash po" [so the bank keeps hands off once the physical cash is released]. She said the policy exists "for safety and security measures." The total withdrawn across the four cheques was half a billion pesos, the witness confirmed.

Speaking on Senate Session, the prosecution called Violeta Constantino, a retired Department Manager at Land Bank of the Philippines' Showblvd Branch, to testify about her role in processing financial transactions.

Constantino, who worked at the bank from May 2020 to January 2024, is being offered to prove that the Land Bank branch processed the encashment of four cheques payable to Gina F. Acosta totalling 125 million pesos, according to the prosecutor's statement on the record.

The lead House prosecutor, Leila de Lima, told the impeachment court that the case is not about missing receipts or accounting errors, but evidence of misappropriation. De Lima said 612.5 million pesos in confidential operating funds were entrusted to Vice President Sara Duterte through the Office of the President and the Department of Education. Speaking on Senate Session, De Lima framed the allegation as a deliberate diversion of funds intended to support civilian agencies' surveillance activities.

The Senate impeachment court resumed the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday to address allegations she misused P612.5 million in confidential funds during her tenure as vice president and education secretary, the Manila Times reports. Prosecutors presented witnesses including two former Land Bank of the Philippines branch managers — Violeta Constantin and Nenita Camposano — who are expected to testify on the processing, documentation and withdrawal of the funds.

Duterte's defense rejected a prosecution proposal to change how evidence would be presented per article. The first impeachment article specifically accuses her of misusing the P612.5 million in confidential funds.

Live coverage — House of Representatives — stream ended.

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.

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