The House prosecution panel expects to wrap up its presentation of evidence regarding Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds by next week, marking a significant milestone as it moves toward concluding the trial’s first Article of Impeachment.
House prosecutor and Manila Representative Joel Chua confirmed at a press briefing that only a few remaining witnesses are scheduled to testify following expected testimony from a representative of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Chua explained that after the PSA witness presentation, the prosecution likely has at most one or two additional witnesses left to call, primarily former Department of Education (DepEd) special disbursing officer Edward Fajarda. Fajarda served during Duterte’s tenure as education secretary and directly managed the department’s confidential funds.
The prosecution has also chosen to drop two scheduled military witnesses, determining that their testimony would largely duplicate evidence already presented to the court by Colonels Manaros Boransing II and Magtangol Panopio.
Chua noted that the panel is satisfied with the evidence introduced regarding Youth Leadership Summits (YLS) and military certifications, which DepEd submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA) to account for P15.54 million in confidential fund expenditures allegedly spent on informant rewards.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, Boransing testified that his 1st Infantry “Tabak” Division received no funds from DepEd for the activities cited in his unit’s certification. Panopio similarly expressed surprise upon learning that his certification, issued merely to confirm that standard YLS activities had taken place, was submitted by DepEd as financial supporting documentation. Panopio explicitly clarified to the impeachment court that military personnel do not certify matters regarding funds or monetary disbursements.
Furthermore, the defense stipulated that no confidential funds were ever transferred from DepEd to the Philippine Army or the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the YLS and information education communication activities covered by those certifications.
The prosecution is currently presenting its case under Article I, which accuses Vice President Duterte of offenses stemming from the alleged misuse, misappropriation, and irregular liquidation of P612.5 million in confidential funds. The total contested amount comprises P500 million allocated to the Office of the Vice President and P112.5 million disbursed to DepEd.