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

The House prosecution team is yet to be convinced that it would need to call in Colonel Raymund Lachica as a hostile witness, even amid testimony that he disbursed P500 million in confidential funds from 2022 to 2023.

“There are a lot of things that you need to consider when deciding if you will call a hostile witness to the stand, unless it is absolutely necessary. Because the risks include...baka magsinungaling yung witness [the witness could lie]. But, we minimize the risk if there are statements under oath. That is one of the things we are considering [before deciding on Lachica’s case],” House prosecution team spokesperson Benjamin Tolosa, Jr. said in a press conference on Monday.

The defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday said it would not disclose its planned witnesses or litigation strategy in the ongoing impeachment trial, saying it does not want to “telegraph” its moves to the prosecution.

Defense spokesperson Michael Poa said the defense would wait for the proper time to present its evidence, noting that the public has so far heard mainly the prosecution’s side.

Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero on Monday said former Department of Education (DepEd) special disbursing officer (SDO) Edward Fajarda had requested to be excused from this week’s trial after reportedly suffering a stroke.

On the 17th day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, Escudero said the impeachment court received a letter and medical certificate from Fajarda’s lawyer asking that he be allowed to skip the hearings on August 24 to 26, 2026.

Senator Erwin Tulfo on Monday questioned former Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursing officer Gina Acosta over the reported purchase of P122 million worth of medicines using confidential funds, particularly how the medicines were classified as rewards for informants.

During the 17th day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, Tulfo asked Acosta about acknowledgment receipts covering medicines and other supplies reportedly purchased using confidential funds.

Former Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursing officer Gina Acosta on Monday broke down in tears while testifying during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte when asked about the health condition of her husband.

This, after Senator-Judge Imee Marcos asked Acosta how her husband is currently doing.

“Kumusta ang asawa ninyo na binisita ninyo? Alam ko undergoing treatment sa Davao,” Marcos said.

(How is your husband whom you visited? I know he is undergoing treatment in Davao.) 

“Hindi po maganda, maam. I’m sorry,” Acosta answered, turning emotional. 

The House prosecution panel on Monday questioned former Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursing officer (SDO) Gina Acosta over her inability to recall details about the confidential funds of Davao City when Sara Duterte was mayor.

During his redirect examination, private prosecutor Amando Ligutan asked Acosta if she knew what “selective memory” meant, pointing out that when he questioned her about the Davao City funds, she repeatedly said she could not remember.

Former OVP special disbursing officer Gina Acosta was questioned by Senator Risa Hontiveros over an acknowledgment receipt (AR) bearing the name “Clarisse Hontiveros” and dated February 24, 2023 —coinciding with the senator’s birthday.

Hontiveros raised the detail while questioning Acosta during the resumption of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday.

The senator first asked Acosta whether she could verify the accuracy of the information indicated in the acknowledgment receipts, including the dates of payment, items purchased, places of purchase and amounts.

Acosta said she relied on former OVP security officer Colonel Raymund Lachica, who she said implemented activities related to the confidential operations.

Hontiveros then brought up an AR bearing the name “Clarisse Hontiveros.”

“Ang nakakagulat po, Ms. Gina, ’yung petsa kung kailan daw binayaran ang Clarisse Hontiveros ay February 24, 2023, petsa po ng birthday ko. Napakalaking coincidence po,” Hontiveros said.

Former special disbursing officer (SDO) Gina Acosta said Monday that she does not know why Vice President Sara Duterte hired her when she was Davao City mayor and later at the Office of the Vice President (OVP), where she was entrusted with disbursing up to P500 million in confidential funds.

“Hindi ko alam, Your Honor, kung bakit ako ang kinuha ng Bise Presidente as SDO [ng OVP at Davao City],” Acosta said.

Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense spokesperson Michael Poa on Monday denied reports that the vice president wants to speak with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Poa dismissed the report as fake news when asked about the claim, during a break in the impeachment trial of Duterte.

“Fake news. Parang ’yung binato ako ng laptop o kung ano man, it’s also fake news. So, fake news po ’yan,” Poa said in an ambush interview with GMA News’ senior reporter Ian Cruz.

(Like the report that I was hit or struck with a laptop or something, that is also fake news. So, that is fake news.)

The statement came amid ongoing proceedings in the impeachment trial of Duterte, where her defense team has been representing her before the Senate impeachment court.

Poa did not provide further details about the report or elaborate on whether Duterte had any plans to meet with Marcos.

Malacañang on Monday last week said it could not confirm reports that Duterte had allegedly sought a “private meeting” with Marcos.

“Wala po tayong makukumpirma patungkol diyan dahil wala namang binababa sa ating anumang impormasyon kung mayroon ngang ganyang kaganapan. Sa ngayon, wala tayong makukumpirma,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a briefing.

(We cannot confirm anything regarding that because no information has been passed down to us on whether such an event actually took place. As of now, we have nothing to confirm.)

Poa's denial meanwhile also comes after he previously rejected another claim involving Duterte, specifically a report that she had thrown a laptop at him. That allegation was likewise described as fake news.

Duterte herself, in an interview in The Hague, denied reports that she threw a laptop at Poa. —Sherylin Untalan/KG, GMA News

A prosecution hostile witness, Gina Acosta, on Monday told the impeachment court that she no longer had the acknowledgment receipts showing that Col. Raymund Lachica, chief security officer of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), received P125 million in confidential funds because the documents were supposedly returned to him.

Acosta, a former OVP special disbursing officer, was under direct examination by prosecution counsel Virgil Ligutan when she was asked whether she had any document proving that Lachica received the confidential funds.

“Wala po (None),” Acosta said.