Highlights: Day 31 of Sara Duterte impeachment trial | Sept. 29, 2026

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate impeachment court on Tuesday denied the House prosecution panel’s request to admit Vice President Sara Duterte’s bank records as evidence, with Presiding Officer Francis Escudero ruling that the right against self-incrimination remains protected even under the impeachment process. 

The prosecution had submitted a request for admission on Sept. 8 covering Duterte’s personal circumstances, her spouse Manases Carpio’s business interests, and various tax and bank records, but the defense objected and sought to expunge the request. 

READ: Highlights: Day 30 of Sara Duterte impeachment trial | Sept. 28, 2026

Article continues after this advertisement

Shortly after, the court announced that the hearing scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 30, would be canceled, with proceedings to resume Thursday, Oct. 1, at 10 a.m. ^[1]

FEATURED STORIES

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

The centerpiece of Day 31 was the testimony of Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, who was declared a hostile witness after the prosecution established his adverse interest, allowing prosecutors to ask him leading questions.  

Mayor Duterte told the court he only learned of GenCorp Industries Inc. when the company was mentioned during his sister’s impeachment trial, even though previous witnesses testified that 15 food service contracts worth P34,216,900 were awarded by Davao City to GenCorp between June 2022 and June 2026.

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian pressed the mayor repeatedly on why GenCorp had won all 19 contracts with the local government over five years, to which Duterte said he did not consider the matter unusual.

Mayor Duterte also told the court that had he known his sister held a stake in GenCorp, he would not have allowed the contracts to proceed.

Article continues after this advertisement

Prosecution spokesperson Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong argued in a press briefing that the vice president’s alleged failure to disclose her GenCorp interest to her brother placed Mayor Duterte in a precarious position, suggesting she was prepared to sacrifice him.

Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo separately told the mayor to personally look into his own chief of staff and the city’s GenCorp deals upon his return to Davao. ^[6]

Article continues after this advertisement

On the sidelines, Mayor Duterte confirmed he knew and had business ties with a certain Jaime Tan Cruz, answering in the affirmative when private prosecutor Theodore Te asked whether the two had business dealings together. 

Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV also arrived at the Senate to observe the proceedings, listed among the prosecution’s witnesses on alleged unexplained wealth. 

While the prosecution sought to move Trillanes’s presentation up to Wednesday, Escudero advised the panel to stick to their original sequence and await bank and Anti-Money Laundering Council officials first, though Wednesday’s session has since been canceled. 

On the sub judice front, prosecution counsel Benjamin Tolosa Jr. disclosed that the impeachment court admonished him over his earlier media comments, though he noted the court did not make a finding that Rule 18 of the Senate Rules of Impeachment had been violated. 

Defense spokesperson Michael Poa also publicly contradicted fellow defense spokesperson Paolo Panelo, denying he had agreed with Panelo’s characterization of the court’s ruling on the two-thirds conviction threshold as “just a farce.” /dp

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

Sources:

1. Impeachment court postpones Wednesday hearing, to resume Thursday
2. Adiong: If Baste Duterte’s GenCorp claims true, VP put him in danger
3. Tolosa: Impeach court admonished me; it must also be strict with Sara Duterte
4. Poa belies Panelo claim on ‘farce’ Senate impeachment court ruling
5. 19 contracts in 5 years? Gatchalian questions GenCorp-Davao City deals
6. Baste Duterte urged to summon chief of staff, probe into GenCorp deals
7. Trillanes may be next witness in Duterte impeachment trial on Sept. 30
8. Baste Duterte confirms he has business ties with Jaime Tan Cruz
9. Baste Duterte: If I knew Sara was in Gencorp, I would not deal with it
10. Baste Duterte declared as hostile witness by impeachment court
11. Impeach court junks plea to admit as evidence Duterte’s bank records
12. Baste Duterte says he only heard of GenCorp during impeach trial
13. Baste Duterte takes witness stand in Sara Duterte impeachment trial
14. Trillanes attends impeachment trial as Baste Duterte set to testify

Editor’s note: This update was generated with the aid of artificial intelligence based on Inquirer.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer and Cebu Daily News articles and reviewed by a human editor.