Ridon happy with Senate order: Most of our evidence admitted

MANILA, Philippines — Despite the Senate Impeachment Court not admitting some audit reports as evidence for the unexplained wealth charge against Vice President Sara Duterte, public prosecutor and Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon considers it as a win since most of their presentations were considered.

In a video statement on Friday, Ridon thanked the Senate Impeachment Court for admitting most of the evidence presented by the prosecution throughout Duterte’s formal trial, which started last July 6.

“Nagpapasalamat po kami sa Senate Impeachment Court sa pagtanggap ng karamihan sa mga ebidensya na inilatag ng prosekusyon sa aming formal offer of evidence,” Ridon said.

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READ: Documents vs VP in impeachment trial came from her camp, says prosec 

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(We thank the Senate Impeachment Court for admitting most of the evidence that the prosecution presented in our formal offer of evidence.)

Now that the impeachment court has admitted most of the evidence presented by the prosecution — including Duterte’s bank and tax records, reports from the Anti-Money Laundering Council and the Security and Exchanges Commission (SEC), and her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) — Ridon said it is up for her legal team to address these issues point by point.

“Ito po ‘yong inaasahan namin na sasagutin punto por punto ng depensa sa kanilang mga paglalatag ng ebidensya sa susunod pong dalawang linggo.  Ito po ‘yong mga kailangang ipaliwanag ng pangalawang pangulo, partikular itong mga P800 million to P1.5 billion in unexplained wealth,” Ridon said.

(This is what we expect the defense to answer point by point in their own presentation of evidence for the next two weeks.  These are the things that the vice president has to explain, particularly the P800 million to P1.5 billion in unexplained wealth.)

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READ: Impeach court junks plea to admit COA docs as proof in ‘unexplained wealth’ 

“‘Yong 2023 SALN kung saan nakalagay po roon na hindi umaabot ng P80 million ang kanya pong pag-aari, kayamanan sa kanya pong SALN, samantalang no’ng binuksan ang bank accounts, insurance, at investment accounts ay mayroong higit P100 million […] So ito ‘yung mga inaasahan natin na maipapaliwanag, bibigyan ng ebidensya, sasagutin ng depensa,” he added.

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(Her 2023 SALN stated that her net worth did not reach P80 million, but when the bank accounts were opened, the insurance, and investment accounts, it was revealed that she had over P100 million inside […] So this is what we expect the defense to answer, explain, and give clarity to.)

Earlier, the Senate Impeachment Court released an order admitting several pieces of evidence presented by the prosecution.  However, it also denied the request to admit the Commission on Audit (COA) documents on confidential funds (CF) as evidence, even if it was meant to corroborate the charges under Article II of the Articles of Impeachment.

Article II refers to the allegation that Duterte has unexplained wealth, and that she failed to declare these in her SALNs while in office as vice president.  It is the only remaining charge against Duterte after the prosecution withdrew three of the four articles last October 13.

According to the court, since Article I or the alleged confidential fund misuse within Duterte’s offices had been withdrawn, such exhibits presented in the dropped charge “may not be re-offered or collaterally raised in relation to Article II.”

The same exclusion applied to COA documents that flagged the Department of Education’s CFs disbursements from 2022 to 2023 — when the agency was still under Duterte.

Other pieces of evidence were also admitted, but with certain limitations.

The Office of the Ombudsman records, particularly Duterte’s various SALNs from 2007 to 2025, were also admitted.  However, the declarations before her term as vice president would only be used “as a starting financial baseline.”

Duterte’s trial has been on a break since October 13, and will resume on November 9 with the defense presenting evidence to dispute Article II of the Articles of Impeachment.

The prosecution panel originally listed four charges in its Articles of Impeachment against Duterte, but public prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro manifested that they are withdrawing three of four articles, leaving Article II as the lone case.

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With the withdrawal of the articles, Duterte’s legal team is only required to mount a defense for Article II.  Should the Senate Impeachment Court convict Duterte, she will be removed from office and may be perpetually disqualified from holding public office. /mr