LIVE UPDATES: Sara Duterte Impeachment Trial (August 24, 2026)

The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte is set to resume Monday after being canceled for two consecutive days due to inclement weather.

Former Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursing officer Gina Acosta, a hostile witness fielded by the House prosecution panel, is expected to return to the witness stand for the continuation of her direct examination.

Acosta is a witness for Article 1 of the impeachment case, which accuses the Vice President of committing impeachable offenses due to systematic misappropriation and irregular liquidation of confidential funds amounting to P500 million released to the OVP and P112.5 million released to the Department of Education (DepEd) during her tenure as Education chief.

Last Monday, August 17, Acosta said that she released P500 million of confidential funds in 2022 and 2023 to Colonel Raymund Lachica, former chief of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG), on the orders of Duterte.

After Acosta’s direct examination, the defense counsel for the Vice President will proceed with the cross-examination. Both the prosecution and defense will also be given the opportunity for redirect and recross examinations of the witness.

Thereafter, the senator-judges will be afforded two minutes per round for their interjections.

Aside from Acosta, the Senate impeachment court also previously issued a subpoena to former DepEd special disbursing officer Edward Fajarda.

It is uncertain if Fajarda will already be called to the witness stand on Monday.

Aside from these, the Senate impeachment court is also expected to take up administrative matters, including whether to move the trial back to afternoon sessions in a bid to expedite the proceedings.

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian on Friday said that senator-judges have already reached a consensus regarding the matter.

To recall, it was Senator-Judge Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri who manifested to move the impeachment trial back in the afternoon to enable the prosecution and defense teams more time to present their arguments.

He suggested that the legislative session at the Senate be conducted at 10 a.m. instead, and the trial to begin at 3 p.m.

Impeachment court spokesperson Regie Tongol admitted that the impeachment trial is already slightly delayed by a few days due to work suspensions caused by heavy rainfall, as well as the pace of the proceedings. —Giselle Ombay/LDF, GMA News