Sison: Allowing withdrawal of impeachment charges leads to mistrial

MANILA, Philippines — There will be a mistrial if the impeachment court allows the prosecution to withdraw three of four Articles of Impeachment and effectively prevent Vice President Sara Duterte from countering the evidence already presented, Atty. Sheila Sison said on Tuesday.

Sison, lead counsel for the respondent, explained in her manifestation that the prosecution cannot “unilaterally determine” how the defense panel can proceed in terms of rebutting the evidence presented by the prosecution.

But if the court does so, by allowing the withdrawal of the articles, it will show the “unmistakable characteristics” of a mistrial.

Article continues after this advertisement

READ: From Donki to Nike: Analyst says VP had ‘unusual’ purchases in 2025 

FEATURED STORIES

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

“We believe that even as we respect the prosecution’s decision to withdraw the three articles or the two articles today in addition to Article III or the bribery article, the prosecution nonetheless cannot unilaterally determine how the defense will proceed, or which accusations the judges may hear.  And which accusations the respondent may be permitted to answer,” Sison said.

“Now if the withdrawal is intended to shorten the proceedings of this case, or of the presentation of the respondent’s evidence so the court may immediately proceed to judgment, then we believe that the resulting process would bear the unmistakable characteristics of a mistrial,” she added.

According to Sison, a mistrial happens when the “fundamental balance between accusation and defense” is compromised — which will happen if the defense does not get the right to counter the prosecution’s evidence.

READ: Analyst: VP Duterte didn’t declare P207-M cash, total assets reach P817M 

Article continues after this advertisement

“We have spent government resources, time, energy, of this court and of all the participants in this trial presenting so-called evidence and hearing testimonial evidence from the witnesses that the prosecution had chosen to present before this Honorable court,” she said.

“And yet, the defense would now appear to be forced to limit its presentation or its rebuttal to those evidence to whatever it is that the prosecution had decided to retain in the articles of impeachment.  This we will never allow,” she added.

Article continues after this advertisement

Sison said during her manifestation the claims raised by the prosecution when it presented Articles I and IV have already entered public consciousness, and therefore the defense must be given the chance to counter them or else it will be unfair.

Before Sison spoke, lead public prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said that aside from Article III or the allegation that Duterte bribed Department of Education officials, the prosecution is foregoing Article I or claims of confidential fund misuse within the vice president’s office; and Article IV or her grave threats against ranking officials.

This means the prosecution will only be presenting Article II or unexplained wealth allegations in their formal offer of evidence.

However, the issue with the prosecution’s decision is that Articles I and IV have already been presented — meaning, witnesses and documents have already been made public.

On Monday, the impeachment court wrapped up discussions on Article II as the defense finished their cross examination of financial forensic analyst Alexander Cabrera — the prosecution’s final witness.

Cabrera has made several grave accusations in his report of Duterte’s financial transactions, like claims that the vice president failed to declare P817,874,867 in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).

At one point, Cabrera also said that Duterte had an “unusual banking behavior” in 2025 which included a meal at Ginza Inakaya Tokyo in Japan worth P200,007.29 with a transaction date of March 19, 2025; two transactions on Dec. 27, 2025 with the Nike store at a Davao City mall worth P93,750.00 and P205,392.00; and another Nike store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, worth P256,882.50.

Cabrera did not mention Duterte’s other unusual banking activities, but his Table 25 showed that she had gone shopping at two MEGA Don Quijote outlets in Japan.

Don Quijote is a discount store chain that started in Japan, offering a variety of items — from Japanese-made toiletries, toys, gadgets, souvenirs, and even food products.

Two transactions referred to a Don Quijote in Shibuya, one of the main business and entertainment hotspots in Tokyo — with one worth P62,900.95 and the other being P65,877.64.

Both transactions occurred on December 8, 2025.

The other Don Quijote outlet that Duterte transacted with is in Aichi prefecture, specifically in Naka-ward.  The transaction on July 20, 2025, was worth P111,109.24

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

The total for all of Duterte’s unusual banking behavior listed in the exhibit was P239,887.83. /mr /atm