LIVE UPDATES: Sara Duterte Impeachment Trial (September 8, 2026)

The House prosecution panel on Tuesday said that it would forego the presentation of witnesses for Article 1 of the impeachment case, referring to the alleged misuse of confidential funds.

Private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan announced this on the 23rd day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte

“Today, we have already presented 10 witnesses and stipulated as to the testimony of 2 witnesses. So a total of 12 witnesses out of 27 witnesses," Kapunan said.

“After a long meeting, the prosecution both public and private prosecutors, have decided today…we have decided to forego, Your Honors, not only with the subpoenaed for today but with all the remaining 15 witnesses,” she added.

Private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia said it was too late for the defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte to say that the unusual names of individuals who received confidential funds are mere aliases after a witness testified that these unusual names have no birth, marriage or death records.

Divinagracia made the point after Philippine Statistics Authority's (PSA) Assistant National Statistician Marizza Grande testified Monday that Mary Grace Piattos, Timon Pusa, among other unusual names as stated in the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education (DepEd’s) acknowledgment receipts submitted to state auditors for liquidation were not found on PSA’s Civil Registry Records.

Likewise, some of the names of confidential fund recipients in acknowledgment receipts submitted by Vice President Duterte's offices matched the records of those people who already died, if not children as young as two months old.

A new set of prosecution witnesses is lined up for Tuesday to testify on Article 1 of the impeachment case regarding the alleged misuse of confidential funds by Vice President Sara Duterte.

According to impeachment court spokesperson Regie Tongol, the House prosecution panel is scheduled to present first this morning Police Major Jovelyn Magay to answer questions on how the information on the acknowledgement receipts of the confidential funds was written.

“‘Yung PNP question document examiner na ipi-presenta ng House prosecution panel, ang balak na patunayan po ng House prosecution panel… ‘yung pagsulat ng mga pangalan doon sa ARs na ‘yun are done by either one person or two or just a few persons na magkakapareho ‘yung strokes, etc.,” Tongol said in a press conference on Monday.

(With the PNP question document examiner who will be presented, the House prosecution panel intends to prove that the writing of names on the ARs was done by either one, two, or just a few persons with similar strokes, etc.)

“‘Yun ‘yung ina-anticipate po na purpose po nung mag-presinta kay PNP Document Examiner Magay tomorrow,” he added.

(That’s the anticipated purpose when PNP Document Examiner Magay is presented tomorrow.)

With this, Tongol explained that the prosecution maintains that the names listed as payees in the ARs are fictitious people, while the defense is trying to prove that they are aliases.

Should the direct, cross, redirect, and recross examinations of Magay, as well as the interjections of senator-judges, be finished within the day, the Senate impeachment court will call the next person to the witness stand.

Based on the impeachment court’s list, Tongol said the next witness lined up after Magay is Sunshine Fajarda, former Assistant Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) and incumbent Director VI of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

Commission on Audit- Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO) Assistant Commissioner and Chief Executive Staff Bresilio Sabaldan has also been ordered to testify in the trial. —LDF, GMA News