The prosecution has lined up three more witnesses in the continuation of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Expected to testify this week are Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Company Registration and Monitoring Department Director Gerardo del Rosario, Civil Service Commission (CSC) Assistant Commissioner Ariel Ronquillo, and Rendell Sopeña of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System under the Department of Budget and Management.
The Senate impeachment court is currently hearing allegations that Sara Duterte amassed unexplained wealth, which the Vice President has denied.
Impeachment Trial of Sara Duterte
Last Tuesday, Karen Batu, officer-in-charge of the Office of the Ombudsman Records Division, testified on the lack of cash on hand and bank deposits declaration in Duterte's Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) in recent years.
She said that Duterte's SALNs from 2019 to 2025 lacked a specific declaration for cash and bank deposits, even though she disclosed them previously.
Duterte was in her final years as Davao City mayor from 2019 to 2021 and served the first years of her vice presidency from 2022 to 2025. Duterte jointly filed her SALNs with her husband, Manases Carpio.
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The filing of SALN is mandated by the 1987 Constitution and two other laws, namely Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Prosecutors in the impeachment trial raised suspicions about Duterte's refusal to enumerate her cash on hand or in banks in her SALNs during those years.
Her lawyers explained that her liquid assets were simply bundled under the "Other Personal Properties" category in her SALNs, which retired Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang argued cannot be done.
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Batu also testified on the business interests Duterte declared in her SALNs, including those listed in 2022, when she was elected vice president.
The documents also detailed the business interests of her husband.
Under her 2022 and 2023 SALN, those businesses include Metro City Chow Foods Corp., Davao New Royal Taipan Corp., Timesquare Bee Foods Corp. and Tapang At Malasakit Alliance for the Philippines. Inc., where Duterte serves as either stockholder or incorporator.
These businesses were also declared in past SALNs prior to 2022.
Her 2024 SALN, meanwhile, lists Metro City Chow Foods Corp. and GenCorp Industries Inc. (formerly Timesquare Bee Foods Corp. and Great Jolly Times Food) as her business interests, where she is either incorporator or stockholder.
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Prior to showing the SALNs from 2022, prosecution counsel James Bryan Ibrahim Alih read Sec. 13 of Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, which states the president, vice presidents, Cabinet officials and their deputies and assistants "shall not, unless otherwise provided in this Constitution, hold any other office or employment during their tenure."
The section also tells the officials to "strictly avoid" conflicts of interests and prohibits them, from "directly or indirectly, practice any other profession, participate in any business, or be financially interested in any contract with, or in any franchise, or special privilege granted by the Government or any subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including government-owned or controlled corporations or their subsidiaries."
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