Highlights: Day 39 of Sara Duterte impeachment trial | Oct. 13, 2026

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate impeachment court on Day 39 accepted the prosecution’s withdrawal of articles on confidential funds, bribery, and grave threats, leaving only the unexplained wealth charge against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Presiding Officer Francis Escudero announced: The court accepts and confirms the prosecution’s manifestation… Articles I, III and IV from this point forward are hereby withdrawn. 

READ: Highlights: Day 38 of Sara Duterte impeachment trial| Oct. 12, 2026

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Lead prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said the evidence for Article II would be sufficient to convict Duterte and that focusing on a single charge would expedite the proceedings.

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Following the withdrawal, Escudero also lifted the sub judice rule on the three dropped articles, meaning those matters may now be discussed publicly.

The defense reacted sharply to the move.

Lead counsel Sheila Sison warned that allowing the withdrawal while barring the defense from countering evidence already aired carried the “unmistakable characteristics” of a mistrial. She called the entire maneuver “ridiculous” and unacceptable, questioning why the prosecution withdrew the articles only after the public and senator-judges had already heard the evidence. 

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano echoed the concern, likening the situation to a fistfight where one side is punched and then told not to retaliate: Kumbaga sa suntukan, sinuntok niyo na yung defense, then sasabihin niyo, ‘To save time, huwag na kayong gumanti (“It’s like being in a fistfight: You’ve already punched the defense, and then you tell them, ‘To save time, don’t hit back,),” Cayetano said.

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Luistro, for her part, said things might have unfolded differently had Duterte shown more active interest in her own trial.

Prosecution counsel Lorna Kapunan pushed back against the defense’s framing, arguing that it is the Filipino taxpayers whose money funded Duterte’s offices who are the true victims, not the Vice President.

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Outside the courtroom, Duterte declared she would never step down and intends to seek the presidency in 2028. “I will never resign from the Office of the Vice President,” she told reporters in a chance interview. 

She also described the impeachment trial as a blessing that allows the public to scrutinize her character. 

Meanwhile, a new Social Weather Stations survey released Tuesday showed Duterte maintaining a 56-percent trust rating despite the ongoing trial, outpacing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s 36 percent.

Separately, the National Bureau of Investigation disclosed it is probing the links of businessman Jaime Tan Cruz to companies associated with the Duterte family amid scrutiny of their declared assets.

The impeachment court released the November hearing schedule, with proceedings set to resume on November 9 and continue on select dates through November 23. The trial now enters a recess, with the defense presentation expected to begin when sessions restart next month. /dp

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Sources

1. Playing victim? Kapunan says people, not Sara, the one oppressed
2. Luistro: Things might be different if Duterte showed interest in trial
3. Court lifts sub judice rule on dropped impeachment articles
4. Sara Duterte says she will never resign, will run for president in 2028
5. WATCH: Sison calls withdrawal of 3 impeachment articles ‘ridiculous’
6. VP impeachment trial: Court releases November schedule
7. Sara Duterte: I will never resign
8. Cayetano: Impeach drop is hitting a defense that can’t strike back
9. Impeachment court approves prosec’s move to drop 3 of 4 charges vs VP
10. Sison: Allowing withdrawal of impeachment charges leads to mistrial
11. Sison hits prosec: Why withdraw case after presenting evidence vs Duterte?
12. Matibag: NBI probes businessman Jaime Tan Cruz’s links to Duterte family
13. Marcos trust rating climbs to 36%, but VP Duterte maintains lead at 56%

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.