Progressive groups troop to the Senate in Pasay City on Sunday, 18 May 2026, calling for the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte as the Senate convenes as an impeachment court for Duterte’s trial.
PHOTOGRAPH courtesy of John Carlo Magallon
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A dispute over documents supporting allegations of irregular confidential-fund spending could slow the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, with the House prosecution warning that failure to agree on common exhibits could force prosecutors to authenticate the records individually in open court.
House prosecution spokesperson Atty. Benjamin Tolosa said prosecutors had repeatedly reached out to the defense to compare their copies of documentary exhibits before the Senate impeachment court resumes proceedings on 10 August.
“If we cannot compare the documents beforehand, we may be forced to authenticate them one by one in open court, and that will take much longer,” Tolosa said in a radio interview.
“Unfortunately, we’ve been trying to reach out to them repeatedly after that hearing, but the last update was, ‘that’s the suggested date,’” Tolosa added.
Tolosa said the prosecution would raise the matter with the presiding officer.
The prosecution has sought to compare the documents so that identical records can be jointly marked and need not be authenticated separately during the trial.
“We want to expedite the process because we’re dealing with the same documents. Usually, in a trial, if we have the same documents, we mark them as the same,” Tolosa said.
The prosecution even offered to use the defense’s copies if the documents were identical.
“Our point was, if for some reason you don’t trust our documents, then let’s use yours. Let’s compare them first. If they’re the same, then we’ll use your copies,” Tolosa said.
The defense has maintained that it cannot stipulate to the acknowledgment receipts because the OVP and Department of Education no longer controlled the documents after submitting them to the Commission on Audit (CoA). Defense lawyer Kristine Ferrer questioned how the prosecution obtained its copies from CoA.
CoA findings final
Tolosa also defended the prosecution’s reliance on Commission on Audit findings, saying a notice of disallowance is considered final and executory within the audit process even though it may still be challenged before the Supreme Court.
