Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial has been put on hold for three weeks until November 9th while the Senate deliberates on the budget. That does not mean there is no news to report. The prosecution has filed their formal offer of evidence.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2327498/prosecutors-file-formal-offer-of-evidence-in-sara-duterte-impeachment-trial |
House prosecutors have submitted their formal offer of evidence to the Senate impeachment court in the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, prosecution adviser Robert Ace Barbers said on Wednesday.
Barbers said the prosecutorial panel submitted its evidence on Tuesday evening, providing the Senate with bank, tax and corporate records.
The team also filed net worth disclosure filings to support the prosecution’s case that Duterte allegedly amassed unexplained wealth and reportedly failed to truthfully disclose her net worth.
The Senate impeachment court set an Oct. 23 deadline for the formal offer of evidence, with Duterte’s lawyers given 10 days to review the filing before mounting its defense, when proceedings resume on Nov. 9.
Barbers said the prosecution submitted its portfolio of evidence before the deadline because “that’s how prepared the panel is.”
“We just tied up some edges, some loose strings, formalized it and submitted it,” he told the Inquirer. “Why would we wait for the deadline, at the last minute?”
Prosecutors alleged that Duterte engaged in unlawful business dealings while in office and misstated her net worth.
Forensic financial analyst Alexander Cabrera, a prosecution witness, testified that Duterte may have hidden at least P817 million in assets since 2022.“It’s going to be a difficult task for the defense to be able to rebut all this information,” Barbers said.
The defense has ten days to respond to this formal offer evidence. With 3 article removed and only the article pertaining to alleged unexplained wealth in Sara's SALN that is a lot less evidence needing a response.
The prosecution is so sure the SALN issue is a slam dunk that they are hoping the trial will be over by December rather than extending into next year.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2325633/prosec-hoping-for-sara-duterte-impeachment-verdict-by-november-december |
House prosecution panel member and Manila Rep. Joel Chua is hoping that the Senate impeachment court will be able to rule on Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s case by late November or early December now that only the alleged unexplained wealth article remains.
Chua said prosecutors narrowed the case partly because they expected the defense to stretch its presentation into the following year.
“We hope they will extend the article,” Chua told the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City.He warned that a prolonged trial could weaken public attention to the evidence already presented.
Chua said the defense could determine how to present its case, subject to the court’s control.
Prosecutors would raise objections if they considered the proceedings needlessly prolonged.
“If we think what we are doing is just delaying, I think the impeachment court will give us a chance to hear our case,” he said.
The defense presentation on Article II is scheduled to begin on November 9.
“Hopefully by the end of November or at least at the latest, first week of December, we will be able to make a decision,” Chua said.
The fact that the prosecution is set on hastening the end of proceedings has alarmed Senator Imee Marcos. She thinks the prosecution is running to the goal in order "improve the country’s international standing."
 |
| https://mb.com.ph/2026/10/22/hindi-maganda-yan-chua-sees-bias-in-imee-marcos-rushed-tag-on-impeachment-trial |
Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua said Senator Imee Marcos may have betrayed her bias as a senator-judge after she suggested that Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial was being hastened to improve the Philippines’ image before the international community.
According to Chua, Marcos’ remarks could give the impression that she was favoring one side despite the commitment of senator-judges to remain politically neutral throughout the proceedings.
"I don't think it is appropriate for a senator-judge to make this kind of comment, considering that they had promised to remain politically impartial," Chua said in a recent press briefing.
“Because of these words, it seems she is taking sides," he added.
Chua was reacting to Marcos’ reported remarks in a Senate interview wherein she raised that the impeachment trial was being hurried to improve the country’s international standing.
Marcos reportedly cited the House prosecution’s withdrawal of three impeachment articles against Duterte, leaving article II, which involves allegations of unexplained wealth and financial disclosure violations, as the sole remaining charge.
House lead prosecutor Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro, however, stressed that the prosecution had no control over the pace of the proceedings.
"It is the impeachment court that has the authority, or is in a position, to control the proceedings. That is not in the hands of the prosecution," Luistro said.
Chua also urged senator-judges to exercise restraint in publicly commenting on the case, citing the impeachment court’s adoption of a sub judice rule.
"I believe that the sub judice rule should not apply only to us, but also to the senator-judges," he said.
Chua maintained that the responsibility to avoid statements that could affect the proceedings should apply to both the prosecution and defense, as well as the senator-judges tasked with deciding the case.
Representative Chua who is on the prosecution team says this indicates a bias against the prosecution. Yet, neither Chua nor Marocs tell us what was meant by "improving the country’s international standing." How would a verdict do that exactly especially if it was an acquittal? Perhaps it's just rhetoric from a blowhard who has already made up her mind that Sara is innocent.
Two new surveys have revealed rather interesting opinions form the public about the impeachment trial. In the first one the majority say they need to see more evidence to make a judgement.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2327471/octa-most-filipinos-await-evidence-vs-sara-duterte-in-impeach-trial |
While most Filipinos remained undecided on whether Vice President Sara Duterte should be convicted in her ongoing impeachment trial, more Filipinos expressed support for either her conviction or acquittal, results from a survey conducted by Octa Research showed.
Based on the results of Octa’s survey conducted Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, Filipinos who said they would need to see the evidence against Duterte first dropped to 47 percent from 55 percent in July.
“Combined, 46 percent now state a preferred verdict, up from 38 percent in July,” Octa noted.
Of the 46 percent, 21 percent have voiced their support for conviction—slightly lower than the 25 percent who said they believe Duterte should be acquitted.
Meanwhile, 6 percent of the respondents said they were either undecided or have no opinion.
Octa noted that these figures proved that Filipinos have yet to reach a consensus on the matter, as the gap between acquittal and conviction remain unchanged since July and that either side has yet to reflect a majority.
“The gap is too small to be read as a clear national lead, and the evidence-first group remains the single largest bloc,” Octa said.In terms of regional variance, however, support for conviction rose the highest in Metro Manila from 19 to 34 percent, while acquittal slipped from 21 to 17 percent.
In contrast, acquittal jumped from 41 to 52 percent in Mindanao—reflecting the only major area where a verdict already commands a majority.
Octa’s survey results also highlighted how the shift in beliefs moved the most among young adults (18 to 24 years old), with those waiting for evidence dropping from 50 percent to 29 percent.
Meanwhile, those supporting conviction among the youth rose from 26 percent to 36 percent, almost as much as acquittal from 16 percent to 27 percent.
With these results, Octa noted that the next round of surveys will be the first to capture the public’s reaction to the prosecution finishing their presentation of evidence, including their decision to narrow the case to a single article.
“It will show whether the evidence-first group continues to shrink, and whether those who leave it move toward one verdict or continue to divide,” Octa noted.
Octa’s survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews, with a total of 1,200 respondents aged 18 and above.
It had a ±3 percent margin of error at a 95% percent confidence level, with a ±6 percent margin of error each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Plenty of evidence against Sara has been presented? What exactly are they waiting for?
In another survey, 35% of the public said they don't believe the Senate will come to a fair verdict.
 |
| https://mb.com.ph/2026/10/22/35-of-filipinos-have-little-trust-in-senate-to-make-fair-call-on-vp-saras-conviction-sws |
More than a third of Filipino adults have little trust in the Senate to make a fair decision on whether to convict Vice President Sara Duterte in her impeachment trial, based on a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted from Sept. 21 to 27.
In the survey results released on Thursday, Oct. 22, 35 percent of respondents expressed little trust in the Senate (16 percent ‘very little trust,’ 19 percent ‘somewhat little trust’), while 28 percent expressed much trust (13 percent ‘very much trust,’ 15 percent ‘somewhat much trust’), and 32 percent were undecided.
The survey question was: “Do you have very much trust, somewhat much trust, undecided if much or little trust, somewhat little trust, very little trust that the Senate would make a fair decision as to whether or not to convict Vice President Duterte of the charges filed against her?"
The Senate’s net trust rating was -7, computed by subtracting the 35 percent who had little trust from the 28 percent who had much trust.
“In past impeachment cases, more had much trust than little trust in the Senate to make a fair decision,” SWS noted.
For then-president Joseph Estrada, net trust was +9 (26 percent much trust, 17 percent little trust) in October 2000, before the House impeached him, then rose to +17 (32 percent much trust, 15 percent little trust) in December 2000 and +21 (36 percent much trust, 15 percent little trust) in January 2001, during the trial.
For then-chief justice Renato Corona, net trust was +11 (30 percent much trust, 19 percent little trust) in March 2012 and +21 (36 percent much trust, 15 percent little trust) in May 2012.
“The 2000-2001 and 2012 questions used a three-point scale (much trust, unsure, little trust), while the 2026 question used a five-point scale, so the comparison is only indicative,” SWS said.
Net trust negative in all areas
In the September 2026 survey, SWS found that the Senate’s net trust rating was negative in all four major areas, led by the Visayas at -13, followed by Metro Manila at -8, Balance Luzon at -6 and Mindanao at -3.
By educational attainment, net trust was positive among respondents who did not finish elementary school (+7) and elementary graduates (+4).
However, it was negative among junior high school graduates (-15), those who reached senior high school or college without graduating (-16), and college graduates (-2).
Meanwhile, net trust in the Senate was -1 among respondents who said the impeachment trial gave both sides the right consideration (32 percent much trust, 34 percent undecided, 33 percent little trust).
SWS said it was lower among those who said the trial was too liberal with the lawyers of Vice President Duterte, at -12 (30 percent much trust, 28 percent undecided, 42 percent little trust), and among those who said it was too liberal with the prosecutors, at -16 (28 percent much trust, 28 percent undecided, 44 percent little trust).
Most Filipinos say trial ‘too slow’
On the pace of the trial, 39 percent said it was much too slow, 31 percent said it was moving at the right pace, and 22 percent said it was too much in a hurry.
The remaining 7 percent did not give an opinion.
“In January 2001, a majority of 52 percent said the Estrada trial was moving at the right pace, while 35 percent said it was much too slow,” SWS said.
“Larger shares found the Corona trial much too slow: 49 percent in March 2012 and 46 percent in May 2012,” it added.
Only 12 percent in January 2001, 11 percent in March 2012, and 9 percent in May 2012 said the trial was too much in a hurry, compared to 22 percent in September 2026.
The Third Quarter 2026 SWS survey was based on face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults nationwide.
The sampling error margin was ±3 percentage points for national results, ±4 points for Balance Luzon and ±6 points each for Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao.
Funny that the Senate's trust rating is down generally. But who could blame anyone for not trusting the government?
No comments:
Post a Comment