House panel asks court to allow Madriaga to testify in VP Sara's impeach hearing

The House justice panel has asked the Manila Regional Trial Court to allow detainee Ramil Madriaga, a confessed bagman of Vice President Sara Duterte, to attend the impeachment hearing.

In a March 31, 2026 letter to Manila RTC Branch 21 Presiding Judge Alma Crispina Collado-Lacorte, the House panel said Madriaga’s presence at the hearing on April 14 is crucial since he is considered a “key witness.”

“The House Committee on Justice will resume its hearing for the determination of probable cause on the above-captioned impeachment proceeding on April 14, 2026, with Ramil Lagunoy Madriaga being one of the key personalities to be invited as resource person or witness,” the letter read.

“In this regard, the House Committee on Justice respectfully requests the Honorable Court to allow PDL (Person Deprived of Liberty) Ramil Madriaga… to appear before the Committee on Justice on April 14, 2026, 10:00 A.M., at the 2nd Floor of the People Center, House of Representatives, Batasang Pambansa Complex, Constitution Hills, Quezon City. We look forward to your favorable response on this matter,” the letter added.

The communication was issued on the authority of House committee on justice chairperson Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro and signed by Speaker Faustino Dy.

Copies of the House panel’s letter to the court were also furnished to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology city jail warden in Taguig and Madriaga’s legal counsel, Atty. Raymund Palad.

Madriaga is a detainee in the BJMP facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City due to a pending kidnapping charge. He alleged that drug dealers and Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators are funding the campaign Inday Sara Duterte is My President (ISIP) Pilipinas. 

The House committee is still awaiting the court’s response. —AOL, GMA News