Office of the Vice President assistant secretary and assistant chief of staff Lemuel Ortonio, the second hostile witness in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, responds to questions from prosecutor Mae Divinagracia during direct examination on August 25, 2026. Ryan Baldemor
MANILA, Philippines — The House prosecution panel may further shorten its witness lineup in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte if the remaining testimony will be able to complete the evidentiary “puzzle” under the first article of impeachment, which tackles the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds.
House prosecutors are assessing whether all remaining witnesses are still necessary considering all the evidence that has so far been presented.
“It’s like completing the puzzle. So we have placed the pieces but there is still something missing. The witnesses we have lined up will complete the overall picture or the whole picture of the evidence that the prosecution panel wants to present,” House prosecution adviser and spokesman Robert Ace Barbers said.
The prosecution was initially allocated 31 trial days for Article I, however, it is prepared to drop witnesses whose testimony may already become unnecessary.
Barbers said that the remaining witnesses are intended to fill specific gaps and complete the overall evidentiary picture before the panel decides whether it can rest its presentation on confidential funds.
He cited the prosecution’s previous move to shorten its presentation on the fourth article of impeachment, which covered Duterte’s alleged grave threats, when it withdrew several witnesses after concluding that the evidence already on record was sufficient for its purposes.
The prosecution could follow the same approach for the current case once prosecutors determine that the additional evidentiary value of remaining witnesses no longer justifies extending the presentation.
Barbers also warned the public to be wary of attempts to divert attention away from the impeachment trial whenever something damaging to Duterte arises during the proceedings.
He pointed to what he called a pattern of fake news being propagated whenever a major revelation crops up during the trial. Barbers said the most common tactic is the repeated calls to prioritize the investigation into the flood control controversy.
‘Ombudsman has authority to probe VP’
The Office of the Ombudsman has the authority to launch a motu proprio investigation into Vice President Duterte for the alleged malversation of public funds, even while her impeachment trial is ongoing in the Senate, former senator Aquilino Pimentel III said yesterday.
“It is permitted. Actually, the VP has no immunity from suit. For me, that is my understanding of our Constitution,” Pimentel said over dzBB, noting that the Vice President is not shielded by the Constitution from facing criminal probes.
“If she does not have immunity from suit, all the more even from investigation, any investigation can be done,” he added.
Pimentel emphasized the ombudsman’s independence and its power to initiate investigations without waiting for complaints or external prompts.
He also clarified that the anti-graft body does not need to wait for a final report from the Commission on Audit to file a case.
However, the former lawmaker has cautioned against prematurely labeling the specific crime committed, noting the legal distinctions between technical malversation, regular malversation and plunder.
Declassify confidential documents
Addressing the handling of the Vice President’s confidential funds during the trial, Pimentel asserted that the classification of secret documents should no longer hold weight once an impeachment proceeding is underway.
“If there’s a trial, specially impeachment trial, there is no confidential there, secret or classified,” Pimentel stated.
“The House of Representatives have already accused you, that’s it. That is the voice of the people in our representative government eh,” he added.
To prevent future disputes over state secrets, Pimentel also suggested that Congress craft a law requiring the automatic declassification of confidential government documents after a specific number of years.
For his part, Senate committee on finance chair JV Ejercito announced a baseline policy strictly limiting the allocation of confidential and intelligence funds to government agencies directly involved in national defense.
“Confidential and intelligence funds should be limited to agencies whose mandate is law enforcement, intelligence and national security. To eliminate controversy, as chairman of finance, this will be our policy,” he said.
While acknowledging the necessity of intelligence funds for legitimate security operations and public protection, Ejercito said that the government still bears the ultimate responsibility of safeguarding taxpayer money.
“Confidential fund does not mean unaccountable. It does not mean that because it’s confidential fund, that it cannot have accountability,” he pointed out.