MANILA, Philippines — The prosecution panel of the House of Representatives will no longer present its remaining witnesses from the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, saying the earlier testimonies of two officials have sufficiently covered the military certifications linked to the alleged misuse of confidential funds under Duterte's watch.
Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua said the prosecution would no longer call Lt. Col. Carlos Sandaan Jr. and retired Maj. Gen. Adonis Bajao after Col. Manaros Boransing II and Col. Magtangol Panopio testified on Tuesday.
“We have already presented two witnesses regarding the same point, and the other two would have made the same argument, so they will no longer be presented,” the lawmaker said in Filipino in a briefing following the adjournment of Day 20 of the proceedings.
Boransing testified that his 1st Infantry “Tabak” Division received no funds from the Department of Education (DepEd) for eight Youth Leadership Summits and 53 information education communication activities covered by his certification.
Panopio, meanwhile, said his certification was intended only to confirm that the Youth Leadership Summit activities took place within his unit’s area of operations.
The certifications were submitted by DepEd to the Commission on Audit in connection with P15.54 million in confidential funds allegedly spent on rewards.
The defense stipulated that no confidential funds were transferred from DepEd to the Philippine Army or AFP for the YLS and information education communication activities covered by the certifications.
The defense, however, declined to stipulate that no confidential funds were transferred from DepEd to the Philippine Army or AFP for the activities covered by the certifications. Panopio was not cross-examined by the defense.
House prosecutors are presenting evidence under Article I of the impeachment complaint, which alleges the misuse, misappropriation and irregular liquidation of P612.5 million in confidential funds released to the Office of the Vice President and DepEd. Of this amount, P112.5 million was released to DepEd in three P37.5-million tranches in 2023, when Duterte was education secretary.
Trial resumes with lawyer Michael Wesley Poa taking the witness stand. The prosecution is looking to tag Poa as another hostile witness since he is a member of Duterte’s defense team.
The prosecution panel tagged him as a “central figure” in the trial, pointing to his previous stint as DepEd undersecretary and spokesman.
