Senate impeachment court admits prosecution evidence in Sara Duterte trial

• The Senate impeachment court has allowed the admission of most documentary evidence presented by the prosecution against Vice President Sara Duterte, overruling defense objections regarding the evidence's acquisition and relevance.
• The court emphasized that pre-incumbency records could only be used to establish a factual baseline for evaluating Duterte's financial status during her term
• The court reinstated the sub judice ruling, prohibiting public comments on the impeachment trial, and the proceedings will resume on November 9 with the defense team presenting their evidence.

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 MANILA, Philippines – The Senate impeachment court has overruled the defense’s objections to the documentary evidence presented by the prosecution in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, allowing the admission of most of the contested records, subject to certain limitations.

“The Court overrules the continuing objection founded on the non-attachment of the offered exhibits to the Impeachment Complaints or Articles of Impeachment and on their acquisition through subpoenas during trial,” the decision dated Thursday, November 5, read.

In its comment on the House prosecution panel’s formal offer of evidence, the defense challenged the admissibility of the subpoenaed documents, reiterating its claim that the records were obtained through an “impermissible fishing expedition.”

The impeachment court, however, said characterizing the process as such did not, by itself, constitute grounds for excluding the evidence. It added that the exhibits remained subject to tests of relevance and competence, as well as applicable confidentiality and authentication requirements.

Article 2, which concerns allegations of unexplained wealth against Duterte, is the only remaining impeachment article against the Vice President after the House prosecution panel withdrew the three other articles.

In its ruling, the court allowed the admission of Duterte’s records from 2007 to 2021, but limited their use to establishing a factual baseline “against which the Respondent’s assets, liabilities, net worth, financial resources, transactions, and business interests during 2022 to 2025 may be evaluated under Article II.”

The court stressed that the pre-incumbency records could not be used to charge or establish any separate impeachable offense committed before Duterte assumed office as vice president. Neither could they establish liability for conduct outside the scope of Article II or revive any of the withdrawn articles.

“Verily, no pre-incumbency record can be admitted to merely suggest any habit or propensity to violate the law when such habit or propensity is in the first place irrelevant to the Article in issue,” the ruling said.

Among the admitted evidence were Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs), bank and insurance records, and documents from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS), and Land Registration Authority (LRA).

Also admitted were records from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), which the court said could establish that the identified reports  — including intelligence reports, covered transaction reports (CTRs), and suspicious transaction reports (STRs) — were filed or issued to Duterte. It could also establish the transaction flows reflected in them, insofar as these were relevant to Article 2.

The court also admitted Duterte’s bank and tax records to establish reported income, assets, and business interests. Insurance and investment records were admitted to establish relevant policy, investment, ownership, payment, and account particulars, “which may be compared with the SALNs and other financial records under Article II.”

“Their attribution, valuation, required disclosure, and evidentiary weight remain for final evaluation,” the ruling added.

Meanwhile, the impeachment court excluded corporate records of the JTC Group of Companies Philippines Incorporated and Pikimong Pikimong Philippines Corporation, including entries, summaries, schedules, and computations derived from those records in other exhibits. 

It also excluded a portion of the forensic financial report of lawyer Alex Cabrera concerning the two corporate entities but admitted the remainder of his analysis. The court, however, clarified the validity of the report’s assumptions, methodology, totals, and inferences remains subject to the senator-judges’ final evaluation.

The impeachment court also excluded the Commission on Audit (COA) findings and notices of disallowance involving confidential fund disbursements by the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education in 2022 and 2023 as it was offered in connection with Article 1, one of the withdrawn impeachment articles.

“Admission does not, ipso facto, establish the truth or accuracy of any such evidence, nor does it constitute an adoption by this Court of any conclusion of law framed by the Prosecution in its Formal Offer,” the ruling said.

“The evidentiary weight and sufficiency of every admitted exhibit remain exclusively for the Senator-Judges to determine upon final deliberation,” it added.

With the resolution of the prosecution’s formal offer of documentary evidence, the impeachment court said the prosecution had formally rested its case-in-chief on Article II.

Court restores sub judice ruling

In a separate decision, the impeachment court ruled to reinstate the imposition of Rule 18 on the Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trial on all Articles of Impeachment against Duterte, including those withdrawn or pending adjudication.

This developed after the defense counsel objected to abandoning the sub judice ruling on the withdrawn articles, saying that doing this midway into the trial could undermine the integrity of the proceedings.

Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero ordered the strict enforcement of the rule in August, prohibiting all involved parties including the presiding officer, senator-judges, prosecutors, the respondent, their counsel, as well as all witnesses from making comments or disclosing the merits of the case of the ongoing impeachment trial in public or online.

“The sub judice principle under Rule 18 of the Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials shall apply with equal force to all articles of impeachment whether withdrawn or pending adjudication,” the November 5 ruling said.

“To uphold and reiterate the August 26, 2026 ruling of the Presiding Officer on the application of Rule 18 and enjoin all persons covered thereunder to refrain from making, issuing, or otherwise promoting any public statement or commentary concerning the merits of the pending trial or any matter encompassed by the Articles of Impeachment filed with this Court,” it added.

The impeachment proceedings were put on hold to give way to Senate committee hearings on the proposed 2027 national budget. It will resume on Monday, November 9, with Duterte’s defense team beginning its presentation of evidence. – Rappler.com