Highlights: Day 36 of Sara Duterte impeachment trial | Oct. 8, 2026

MANILA, Philippines – Day 36 of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial opened Thursday with a procedural dispute that briefly halted proceedings: the prosecution asked the Senate impeachment court to present forensic financial analyst lawyer Alexander Cabrera ahead of the scheduled Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) witness because assigned counsel Erwin Matib was reportedly sick. 

Defense lead counsel Sheila Sison objected, saying the defense had prepared for the BIR witness and had received no advance notice of the switch. The court suspended proceedings while the matter was argued. 

READ: Highlights: Day 35 of Sara Duterte impeachment trial | Oct. 7, 2026

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Presiding Officer Francis Escudero ultimately ruled to keep the BIR witness, lawyer Anne Loraine Garcia-Marquez, at the front of the lineup, setting aside the prosecution’s proposed substitution after senator-judges questioned the last-minute change.

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Prosecution spokesperson Benjamin Tolosa Jr. disputed the defense’s framing, saying Cabrera’s report and possible testimony had been provided to the defense and the court the previous Saturday.

Once testimony resumed, BIR official Garcia-Marquez disclosed that the couple’s audited financial statements showed cash on hand and in banks of P21.23 million at end-2022, P28.97 million at end-2023, P15.53 million at end-2024, and P13.80 million at end-2025, none of which Duterte declared in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth since taking office. 

Private prosecutor Erwin Matib also highlighted that the combined after-tax income of Duterte and her husband from 2007 to 2025 was P85,343,803.23, nearly as high as the vice president’s declared net worth of P98,656,131.20 for 2025.

Aside from the financial testimony, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said Thursday that Sen. Mark Villar’s move back to the majority bloc, which included his election as chair of the Committee on Public Works and as a member of the Commission on Appointments, had nothing to do with the impeachment trial or securing conviction votes. 

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On the sidelines, prosecution counsel Tolosa challenged Duterte’s emerging defense that she had no knowledge of transactions in joint bank accounts bearing her signature, saying the Senate court would weigh that claim against the amounts involved, the repeated transactions, and the documents themselves./dp

Sources

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1. BIR records show Sara Duterte’s cash declarations
2. Prosec: VP Duterte, Carpio after-tax income almost as high as net worth
3. Zubiri: Mark Villar’s move to majority not connected to impeachment trial
4. Defense properly informed on forensic expert’s presentation – Tolosa
5. VP Sara’s ‘no-knowledge’ defense challenged by prosecution
6. BIR witness back atop VP Sara trial lineup after surprise switch
7. Impeachment court suspends proceedings over prosecution’s witness switch

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.