ICYMI: Sara Duterte impeachment trial Week 5 highlights

MANILA, Philippines – Week five of Vice President Sara Duterte impeachment trial highlighted by Supreme Court decision on August 5 dismissing as moot the consolidated petitions filed by Duterte and a group of lawyers led by Israelito Torreon that sought to nullify the House of Representatives’ impeachment proceedings.

The high court rules that any decision on the validity of the House and its Committee on Justice actions would no longer affect the controversy now pending before the Senate impeachment court. 

At the trial proper, Days 11 through 13, covering August 3 to 5, were dominated by the testimony of former COA Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office auditor Roderick Wamil, who told the Senate impeachment court that Vice President Sara Duterte was the only vice president and the only Department of Education secretary to have received confidential fund allocations during his decade of service at the office. 

READ: ICYMI: Sara Duterte impeachment trial Week 4 highlights

Key developmentsAug. 3, 2026 (Day 11)

• The prosecution formally opened Article I, presenting 15 boxes of documentary evidence on Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds.
• Former Commission on Audit (COA) Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO) auditor Roderick Wamil took the witness stand and identified 50 documentary exhibits covering 3,664 documents, including 3,617 acknowledgment receipts.
• Wamil testified that under Paragraph 8.3 of Joint Circular No. 2015-01, an accountable officer’s failure to liquidate public funds constitutes prima facie evidence of personal use and benefit. 
• His testimony surfaced a series of irregularities that drew sharp attention during the week. He said it was the first time in his career, after auditing more than 30 agencies over 10 years, that he encountered agencies relying solely on acknowledgment receipts rather than official receipts. 
• He also told the court Duterte was the only vice president and the only education secretary during his decade at COA to receive confidential fund allocations.

Aug. 4, 2026 ( Day 12)

• Cross-examination centered on the Office of the Vice President’s liquidation of confidential funds.
• Wamil testified that the OVP was the first government agency he encountered that refused to receive a COA Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM).
• He also said it was the first time in more than 10 years of auditing over 30 agencies that he saw confidential fund liquidations supported solely by acknowledgment receipts instead of official receipts.
• The prosecution highlighted receipts bearing names such as Mary Grace Piattos, Renan Piatos, Andy C. Lim, and Alejandro Pikit, while Wamil explained that COA rules neither prohibit nor authorize aliases and auditors do not verify whether listed names are real persons.

Aug. 5, 2026, (Day 13)

• The Supreme Court dismissed as moot Duterte’s petitions seeking to void the House impeachment proceedings, ruling that the issue no longer presented a live controversy after the Articles of Impeachment had been transmitted to the Senate.
• During the trial, Wamil disclosed that OVP and DepEd officials, including Michael Poa, had requested COA to issue an audit query instead of an AOM if audit findings arose.
• Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo questioned whether Poa’s participation created a conflict of interest since he now serves as Duterte’s defense counsel.
• Senator-judge Francis Pangilinan also highlighted 111 confidential fund disbursements totaling P17 million made in a single day, which Wamil described as unusual.
• The court further ordered the defense to reexamine 4,492 acknowledgment receipts submitted by the OVP and DepEd.
• The Senate impeachment court accepted as judicial fact the occurrence and regularity of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability and Committee on Justice hearings, meaning the prosecution need no longer prove that those hearings were conducted, though presiding officer Escudero clarified this did not mean the court accepted as fact statements made therein. 
• The court also granted the transfer of exhibit markings for portions of the affidavit of self-confessed Davao Death Squad member Arturo Lascanas, while noting its contents remain hearsay. 
• The court separately subpoenaed a second COA auditor, Celine May Del Campo, extending her appearance requirement through August 11. /dp

Editor’s note: This update was generated with the aid of artificial intelligence based on Inquirer.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer and Cebu Daily News articles and reviewed by a human editor.

• The OVP under Duterte was also the first government agency he encountered that refused to receive a COA Audit Observation Memorandum, reportedly because there was no authorized person to accept it, according to Wamil’s testimony under questioning by Senator-judge Francis Pangilinan. 

• He further testified that OVP and DepEd officials, including OVP Chief of Staff Zuleika Lopez and lawyer Michael Poa, asked COA at a September 2023 meeting to issue an audit query rather than an AOM should findings arise. 

• Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo questioned whether Poa’s presence at that meeting created a conflict of interest given that Poa now serves as Duterte’s lead defense counsel. 

• Acknowledgment receipts bearing names such as Mary Grace Piattos, Renan Piatos, Andy C. Lim, and Alejandro Pikit, presented by prosecution counsel Lorna Kapunan, became a focal point of the week. 
• Wamil told the court that government audit rules on confidential and intelligence funds are silent on the use of code names or aliases, meaning auditors did not verify whether the names on the receipts belonged to real persons. 
•  The prosecution subsequently challenged the defense to prove that the named recipients were real people, calling the impeachment trial the defense’s first opportunity to explain the identities. 
• The impeachment court also ordered the defense to review anew the 4,492 acknowledgment receipts submitted by the OVP and DepEd to COA, after the defense refused to stipulate them. 
• Other significant audit findings presented during the week included COA’s disallowance of P40 million in confidential funds used to purchase medicines, which Wamil said did not fall within the purposes permitted under the 2015 Joint Circular. 
• Senator-judge Pangilinan also highlighted that the OVP made 111 disbursements totaling P17 million in confidential funds in a single day, December 23, 2022, which Wamil described as unusual. The OVP’s 2023 confidential fund expenses were also found to lack supporting documents, Wamil testified. 
• The Senate impeachment court on August 5 accepted as judicial fact the occurrence and regularity of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability and Committee on Justice hearings, meaning the prosecution need no longer prove that those hearings were conducted, though presiding officer Escudero clarified this did not mean the court accepted as fact statements made therein. ^[9] The court also granted the transfer of exhibit markings for portions of the affidavit of self-confessed Davao Death Squad member Arturo Lascanas, while noting its contents remain hearsay. ^[6] The court separately subpoenaed a second COA auditor, Celine May Del Campo, extending her appearance requirement through August 11. ^[16]

Malacañang entered the public debate during the week on two fronts. Palace press officer Claire Castro called on senator-judges to remain impartial, saying some appeared to be acting as lawyers for the defense, an approach she said should not happen. ^[2] Separately, Malacañang accused allies of Duterte of fanning social media speculation about the arrest of fugitive Senator Ronald dela Rosa as a ploy to divert public attention from the impeachment trial. ^[4] An Octa Research survey released on August 3 found that 43 percent of Filipinos considered bribery the strongest impeachment allegation against Duterte, while 28 percent identified misuse of confidential funds as the most serious charge.