Week 13 of Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial saw the first scheduled full week of testimony. That's five days rather than the normal three days allotted by the Senate. However, Wednesday was set aside for a strategic pause. The reason being so both sides can prepare for the next two weeks of full day marathon sessions.
“The Impeachment Court is not pausing because it is behind; it is pausing because the Court is aggressively ahead of schedule. Since opening Article II on September 14, the proceedings have advanced at a rigorous pace, with the prosecution already presenting six witnesses in an eight-day span that demonstrates a clear commitment to moving the trial forward without unnecessary stalling through highly focused presentation of evidence,” Tongol said in a statement.
“Tomorrow is a deliberate Strategic Procedural Pause designed to clear the floor so both panels can prepare for the grueling, whole-day (10:00 AM to 6:30 PM) marathon sessions running continuously from October 1 to 15,” he added.
If they aren't prepared by now they will never be prepared.
The first day featured testimony about the number of weapons owned by Sara and her husband. They own 51 guns some of which are class A weapons which are not for the public unless they were purchased before the date that restriction became law. Some Senators questioned the relevancy of this testimony but the question had to do with accusations of unexplained wealth and Sara not declaring 30 firearms on her SALN.
The most anticipated testimony this week came from Sara's brother, Davao Mayor Baste Duterte. He was questioned about Gencorp which was award several contracts under his term and in which Sara Duterte has an interest. He claimed he had never heard of GenCorp until the trial.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2313409/baste-duterte-quizzed-over-govt-deals-with-sara-duterte-linked-firm |
Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte was grilled on Tuesday over the city government’s deals with GenCorp Industries Inc that his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, declared in her statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth.
Baste Duterte was declared a hostile witness by the Senate impeachment court trying the case of the vice president.
In his direct examination of the witness, public prosecutor Theodore Te zeroed in on the mayor’s public statement on September 21 that GenCorp “was rigorously evaluated and determined to have submitted the lowest calculated responsive bid or offer.”
Baste Duterte confirmed making the statement when asked by the prosecutor.
Te next showed the impeachment court a request for quotation by Davao City for the second quarter of 2024 which contained an item under “Line of Business,” saying that “the supplier must have a certificate issued by the CMO through the head of business bureau indicating that the line of business has been operational for at least five years in the market and shall be submitted as part of the eligibility documents.”
Still responding to the prosecutor’s query, the mayor confirmed that the 5-year period was a requirement imposed by the local government to interested bidders.
“So, I’ll go back to your statement, sir. You said that you had rigorously evaluated GenCorp Industries Incorporated. So, in that evaluation, sir, were you able to determine if GenCorp indeed complied with this particular requirement imposed by the City of Davao?” Te then asked.
“I do not know that as of now. We can check our records in the city,” the hostile witness said.When Te pressed further whether he had personal knowledge that GenCorp has been in existence for at least five years, Baste Duterte answered: I do not know. It is presumed that GenCorp has complied.”
Te thanked the witness for volunteering the statement that “it is presumed that GenCorp has complied” with the requirement.
(And so, when you say that, sir, that’s not part of the rigorous evaluation that you made for GenCorp?” the prosecutor pointed out.
At this point, defense lawyer Justin Nicol Gular interjected, saying the question was argumentative.
“Your Honor, I’m simply using the witness’ own statement, Your Honor,” the prosecutor said.
Baste Duterte also maintained that GenCorp had 19 contracts with Davao City, contrary to the 15 deals recorded by the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS.)
Testifying for the prosecution on Monday, PhilGEPS Electronic Government Procurement Operations Division chief Rendell Sopeña said GenCorp had 15 deals worth P34. 216 million with Davao City, but only four went through public bidding.
The remaining 11 according to Sopeña, were awarded to the company “through negotiated small-value procurement.”
How is it the Mayor does not know what's happening in his own city? Through the power of delegated authority.
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| https://www.dzrh.com.ph/post/baste-duterte-confirms-delegated-authority-for-city-contracts |
Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte confirmed during the 31st day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial that he had delegated authority to a city official to sign contracts on his behalf.
During direct examination by House private prosecutor Theodore “Ted” Te, Baste acknowledged that Attorney Tristan Dwight Domingo, the Davao City Assistant City Administrator for Administration, had been authorized to sign awards and contracts for the city under his delegated authority as mayor.
Te asked whether Domingo had the authority to sign contracts for the City of Davao on his behalf.
“Yes. I named him as my representative,” Baste said.
Baste also confirmed that the authority was formally delegated to Domingo and that contracts signed by the city official were executed under the mayor’s authority, including his authority as head of the procuring entity.
Te then asked whether the delegation was made so Baste would not have to personally sign every contract subjected to bidding, allowing him to devote more time to his other responsibilities as mayor.
“That is true,” Baste replied.
However, when Te asked whether he was personally aware of all the contracts signed by Domingo on his behalf, Baste clarified that he was not aware of every transaction.
Asked whether there were contracts signed by Domingo that he had not personally seen, Baste explained that he would become aware of a transaction if it reached his table or if there was an irregularity.
“No, if it comes to my table. Yes, I would be aware of it. If there is an irregularity, then I would be aware of it,” Baste said.
Te then connected Baste’s testimony to contracts previously mentioned in the proceedings, noting that the documents covered by his statement dated September 21 did not carry his personal signature.
“That’s correct,” Baste confirmed.
He likewise confirmed that the contracts were signed by Domingo pursuant to the delegated authority granted by the mayor.
“Yes,” Baste said.
When Te asked whether he had revoked Domingo’s signing authority, Baste answered, “No.”
Te then clarified that Domingo continued to possess the authority to sign contracts on behalf of the mayor.
“Yes,” Baste replied.
Baste’s testimony formed part of the prosecution’s examination into transactions involving the Davao City government and companies linked to the impeachment allegations against his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte.
It's odd that Baste says he never heard of GenCorp until the trial. Yet he knows there were 19 contracts and not 15. Perhaps he researched all that information in the few days between hearing of GenCorp and testifying. While plausible that Sara never disclosed her business interests to Baste, delegating authority does not relieve him of any responsibility as to contract procurements. The buck stops with him.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2026/09/29/baste-duterte-admits-the-buck-stops-with-him-on-davao-city-contracts |
Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte has admitted before senator-judges that he is the final accountable officer for city government procurement despite delegating his contract-signing authority to another official.
“You are aware, Mr. Mayor, that delegating your signing authority to Atty. Domingo does not delegate your accountability as the HOPE,” Te said.
“Of course,” Mayor Duterte replied.
“You are still the final accountable officer,” Te followed up, to which the witness answered in the affirmative.
Needless to say his testimony was found to be incredulous by the prosecution.
Adiong, spokesperson of the prosecution panel in Vice President Sara Duterte impeachment trial, is particularly incredulous over the Davao mayor's claim that he was unaware of his Vice President-sister's financial interest in Gencorp Industries Inc., which secured millions of pesos in contracts from the city.
“We were not born yesterday. We know that a mayor is familiar with the ins and outs of his city,” Adiong said in a post-hearing press conference Tuesday.
Adiong said the volume of documents passing through the mayor’s office did not excuse him from knowing about transactions involving the city government.
“Signing of voluminous papers does not give one an excuse to be blinded, especially on matters relating to the economy of his own constituents,” he said.
As mentioned Wednesday's testimony was paused to give time for the defense and prosecution to prepare for all day testimony on Thursday and Friday.
On Thursday Sara Duterte's undeclared properties were entered into the record.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2026/10/01/cost-of-alleged-undeclared-duterte-properties-life-changing-to-common-pinoys-says-prosecutor |
To ordinary Filipinos, the million-peso properties being discussed in Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial represent life-changing money.
Solon-prosecutor Bukidnon 2nd district Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores underscored this on Thursday, Oct. 1 in a bid to give context to the ongoing discussions on article II, which covered the respondent's alleged unexplained wealth.
Flores made the point as the prosecution panel presented land registration records on two properties involving Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases "Mans" Carpio, with acquisition prices totaling about P9.45 million.
“Some may say this is only a few million pesos, but for ordinary Filipinos, P6 million is already a huge amount," Flores told senator-judges while presenting records on a property in Matina, Davao City.
Laywer Kathy Florence Baldonado from the Davao City Register of Deeds testified that the 379-square-meter property was purchased for P6 million in July 2024 and registered to Carpio, who is married to Duterte.
During the comparison of the land records with Duterte’s 2025 statement of assest, liabilities, and net worth (SALN), no entry could immediately be identified as matching the P6-million purchase.
However, the defense argued that the Matina property may correspond to one of the assets declared in the SALN.
Flores reiterated his point when prosecutors presented records involving another property, this time in the Island Garden City of Samal, purchased for P3,453,849 in 2018.
“Some may say, again, that this is only a few million pesos, but for others, P3.4 million is already a huge amount, Your Honor," said the prosecutor.
Acting Samal Register of Deeds lawyer Marco Pineda testified that the property was covered by an active and uncancelled title registered to Carpio.
When the 2018 Deed of Absolute Sale was compared with Duterte’s 2019 SALN based on the acquisition year, location, and value, Pineda said he could find no corresponding entry that perfectly matched the property.
“Nothing matches the land described in the Deed of Absolute Sale dated 2018, sir,” Pineda told the Senate impeachment court.
Article Ii accuses Duterte of failing to fully and truthfully disclose her and her spouse’s assets, liabilities, and net worth.
This is another lapse the defense will have to explain.
But, once again, testimony was cancelled for the next day, Friday. Thursday was also curt short so the defense could peruse financial documents.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2315160/impeachment-trial-ends-early-over-late-amlc-docs-confidential-mark |
Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial ended early on Thursday due to concerns raised by her defense team, including the confidentiality of documents submitted by a prosecution witness.
Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Atty. Ronel Buenaventura was scheduled to testify for the prosecution on Thursday in connection with allegations that Duterte had amassed unexplained wealth and failed to declare it in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).
However, Duterte’s lead defense counsel, Shiela Sison, informed the court that they had received the AMLC summaries only on Thursday morning.
“We just noticed that this document consists of the summaries, including the cover letter submitted by the Executive Director of the Secretariat of the Anti-Money Laundering Council, Atty. Ronel Buenaventura, consisting of 11 pages, actually has on each and every page of this document a strictly confidential mark,” Sison said. “And this repeats in the entire submission, including the accompanying summaries identified as Annex A and so on and so forth.”
“There is also a portion in the cover letter dated October 1, 2026 of the Executive Director of AMLC addressed to the lead of the panel of the prosecutors explicitly saying that the AMLC is not waiving the confidentiality of AMLC records,” she added.
House prosecutor Chel Diokno disputed Sison’s claim, saying that the AMLC documents were provided to the defense team on Sept. 2.
“That is, I believe, enough time for them to have produced the documents and prepared for the presentation of the witness from the AMLC,” Diokno said.
Senator-judge Vicente “Tito” Sotto III expressed strong reservations about postponing the proceedings.“I am not aware of what the presiding officer’s ruling would be, but I have very strong reservations about postponing any proceedings this afternoon because all this time, I thought that the prosecution and the defense have been ready with this since July, since the time we took the oath. And they already know what’s coming, right?” Sotto said.
“So I don’t think many would enjoy a postponement only because they were not given proper time. This was since July, and I understand September too, the defense was given,” he added.
In the end, the Senate Impeachment Court granted the defense team’s request for ample time to prepare for the direct and cross-examinations of the AMLC witness.
“On the requested time of the respondent or counsel for respondent to prepare adequately for the AMLC, I believe this is only the first time that this is being done in excess of the day,” Presiding Officer and Sen. Francis Escudero said.
“So, ex comitate, ex aequo, out of courtesy and equity, the chair grants the time requested by the counsel for respondent for time to prepare for the direct and cross-examination of the AMLC witness on Monday,” he added.
The 32nd day of the trial on Thursday was supposed to be the first full day of proceedings, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. However, the court adjourned the session at 3:30 p.m.
The court also canceled Friday’s trial and decided to resume proceedings next week to hear the testimonies of officials from financial institutions.
Senator Sotto is right. The defense and prosecution have had more than adequate time to prepare for these documents. As stated at the beginning, if they aren't prepared now they will never be prepared.
