LIVE UPDATES: Sara Duterte Impeachment Trial (August 12, 2026)

The House prosecution team on Wednesday said it is hopeful that the Senate impeachment court will continue to apply liberality when it comes to parties making comments about the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

House prosecution team trial spokesperson and Atty. Benjamin Tolosa, Jr. made the response after Senate impeachment court Presiding Officer Francis "Chiz" Escudero warned that the court will not tolerate violations of the sub judice rule or discussing the merits of the case while the trial is still ongoing, saying that one side “has been crossing the line many, many times.”

“This time in July, July 14 if I'm not mistaken, the Vice President issued an official statement accusing the prosecution of resorting to fabricated evidence and fabricated narratives. And quite recently [five days ago], as you know, she made remarks, this time not just against the prosecution but against the impeachment proceedings itself, the impeachment court and ultimately the presiding officer, and she said the proceedings is marred by bending the law,” Tolosa said in a press conference.

“But when the spokesperson of the impeachment court was asked if these [statements by the Vice President] violated the sub judice rule, he answered that the presiding officer has been exercising liberality with respect to the application of the sub judice rule. We are sure that this liberality will be applied fairly, not just with respect to the Vice President herself but to all of the persons covered by the sub judice rule,” Tolosa added, referring to Senate court spokesperson Atty. Regie Tongol.

Tolosa, however, said that the prosecution panel will take accountability in the event that the court finds them in violation of the sub judice rule. 

Prosecution witness Xylene del Campo of the Commission on Audit (COA) said Wednesday she cannot say if recipients of P375 million in confidential funds under Vice President Sara Duterte's office who had apparent "funny" names are real persons or not.

Del Campo made the testimony during Day 15 of Duterte's impeachment trial during the cross examination of defense counsel Kristine Ferrer.

"If the name appears to be funny, does it mean it is fictitious?" Ferrer asked.

"Hindi ko po siya masasagot (I cannot answer that)," Del Campo said. 

Confidential operations are not part of the mandate of the Office of the Vice President or the secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), prosecution witness Xylene del Campo of the Commission on Audit’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO) said Wednesday.

Del Campo made the testimony during Day 15 of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte when asked by private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan if confidential operations were part of the OVP or the DepEd secretary’s mandate.

Kapunan cited the information on the OVP’s website which states that “the Office of the Vice President performs executive, ceremonial, and social services functions, collaborating with stakeholders and organizations in both the public and private sectors, to develop and promote programs that uplift the lives of the Filipino people.”

“Based po doon sa nakalagay sa mandato nila hindi po (It is not part of their mandate),” Del Campo said.

Kapunan also asked if the conduct of confidential operations is part of the mandate of the Education chief.

“The DepEd Secretary is in charge of basic, elementary, and secondary education. That's the function. Kasama ba sa mandato ng isang secretary of the Department of Education ang confidential activities (Are confidential activities included in the mandate of the secretary of the Department of Education)?” she said.

Del Campo replied by saying “Kung based po sa mandato po nila, hindi po (Based on their mandate, it is not).”

Vice President Sara Duterte’s lead counsel Sheila Sison on Wednesday condemned a social media post made by private prosecutor Armando Ligutan regarding misleading questions while the impeachment trial was ongoing.

This came following an exchange between private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan and defense lawyer Kristine Ferrer, where the latter seemingly said that misleading questions were allowed during cross examination.

“I find it troubling that the private prosecutor would do this in the middle of a courtroom hearing,” Sison said.

“Because as far as I am concerned, (an) impeachment court is also a court of decorum and the rules on impeachment under Rule 18, actually prohibits participants from commenting about the merits of the case,” she added.

Ligutan’s Facebook post read: “A principle all lawyers and law students know by heart: Misleading questions are not allowed even on cross-examination.”

Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense team on Wednesday questioned the Commission on Audit’s (COA) submission of documents concerning the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) confidential funds to the House of Representatives.

While cross-examining witness Xylene Del Campo, defense counsel Kristine Ferrer said that under Joint Circular No. 2015-01, liquidation documents submitted by agencies must only be examined by the COA-Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO).

She said this was intended to prevent disclosure of confidential information.

“The joint circular likewise requires the security officer to safeguard the confidential information from unauthorized disclosure,” she said.

“And yet, during the COJ hearing you transmitted documents to the Committee on Justice,” she added.

Del Campo explained that the documents were requested through a subpoena.

State auditor Xylene del Campo on Wednesday maintained that the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) 2023 confidential fund spending was irregular, saying supplier details were not confidential and that receipts or invoices should have been submitted to prove purchases made using the funds.

Testifying as a prosecution witness on the 15th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, Del Campo rejected the assertion that details of expenditures using confidential funds should automatically be treated as confidential.

Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero on Wednesday called on private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan and defense counsel Kristine Ferrer to temper their words during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, saying their apparent generational gap should not fuel tension in the proceedings.

Escudero made the remark on the 15th day of Duterte's impeachment trial after Kapunan objected to Ferrer’s questioning of prosecution witness Xylene Mae del Campo of the Commission on Audit’s Intelligence and Confidential Fund Auditing Office (ICFAO).

Amid claims that Vice President Sara Duterte cannot be prosecuted for grave threats while her impeachment trial is ongoing, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro on Wednesday said that a criminal case and an impeachment case are different from each other.

“Magkaiba po kasi ang criminal case, magkaiba din po ang impeachment. Iba po ang nature ng dalawa,” Castro said on Super Radyo dzBB.

(Criminal cases are different, and impeachment is also different. The nature of the two is different.)

Castro was asked if a case may be filed against an impeachable official before a trial court while an impeachment trial is already ongoing.

This came after the Department of Justice filed grave threats charges against Duterte before a Quezon City court on Tuesday over her remarks that she hired a person to kill President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and others if she dies.

Duterte’s camp, however, said she cannot be prosecuted while her impeachment trial is ongoing.

A prosecution witness from the Commission on Audit - Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO) is set to continue her testimony on Wednesday on Article I of the Articles of Impeachment, pertaining to the alleged misuse of confidential funds by Vice President Sara Duterte.

COA-ICFAO state auditor Xylene del Campo will be called on the witness stand for the third time on the 15th day of the impeachment trial so that the Defense team can proceed with the cross-examination.

The redirect and recross examinations of the witness may also take place within the day.

Impeachment court spokesperson Atty. Regie Tongol, however, said that it is unknown if all of that, plus the interjections of the senator-judges, will be finished in just one session.

“The cross-examination, based on previous witnesses and time and motion studies na nakita natin, usually inaabot ‘to ng dalawang sesyon (that we have seen, it takes two sessions)---morning and afternoon session,” Tongol said in a press conference on Tuesday.

“So if we consider the cross-examination to be taking that much time, then baka hindi tayo umabot bukas na matapos para kay (we might not be able to finish with) Ms. Xylene del Campo and we might bleed into Ms. Xylene del Campo still testifying until Monday next week,” he added.

On Tuesday, Del Campo said that Duterte and two other officials of the Office of the Vice President are liable for the disbursement of P73 million out of the P125 million confidential funds which was disallowed by state auditors for violating confidential fund use guidelines.

She also said that the Vice President’s directive to transfer the disbursement of cash advances to Colonel Raymund Dante Lachica, former head of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG), violated the joint circular on confidential funds. —Giselle Ombay/LDF, GMA News