Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Company Registration and Monitoring Department Director Atty. Gerardo del Rosario takes the witness stand for the prosecution during the 27th day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte at the Senate in Pasay City on Monday, September 21, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News
MANILA (UPDATE) — The defense panel in Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial objected Monday to the presentation of a summary of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) documents on her business interests, arguing that it could be "misleading."
The dispute over the summary delayed the questioning of SEC Company Registration and Monitoring Department Director Gerardo del Rosario, who was called to testify in the proceedings.
In objecting to the presentation, Duterte's lawyer Justin Gular noted that the defense had received a copy of the summary only earlier in the day.
"A quick perusal of the document already shows some misrepresentation," Gular said.
He cited, for instance, the summary's title, "Summary of Vice President Sara Duterte's Shareholdings," even though the document contained figures pertaining to the companies — such as authorized capital stock, amount subscribed and amount paid-up — rather than solely to Duterte.
Gular accused the prosecution of attempting "to condition the mind of the public over these figures that will be flashed," prompting prosecution lawyer Erwin Matib to later ask that the remark be stricken from the court record.
"This will clearly mislead the public from even understanding or construing that the numbers appearing on these summaries belong to the Vice President when we surely understand, they do not," Gular said.
But Matib said the summaries contained separate columns distinguishing figures attributable to the companies from those attributable to Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio. Presiding officer Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero then ruled to allow the summaries to be presented.
Escudero also said the defense could question the contents of the summary during cross-examination and would be given time to prepare, since it had only received a copy earlier in the day.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano also delivered a manifestation, stressing the need for fairness in the trial in relation to the labels used in the SEC summary.
"If we're going to spend the whole morning [and] afternoon looking at these documents tapos mali 'yong label, it will prejudice, of course, the defense and the Vice President 'di ba?" Cayetano said.
"If it's just one page, one mistake, then we can say let's allow it with that note. But if throughout this trial or throughout this afternoon, may mali 'yong label or it's misleading, what's worse than a misleading question? It's a misleading document that will be flashed," he argued.
Escudero then suggested removing the summary's title — "Summary of Vice President Sara Duterte's Shareholdings" — since the document also contained information about the companies. The questioning of the witness was further delayed as the title had to be redacted by the technical booth before the summary could be displayed.
The reproduction and distribution of copies of the SEC summary to the senators also caused delays, prompting Sen. Francis Pangilinan to ask the parties to prepare such documents in advance "rather than have it distributed here or reproduced here before it's distributed."
LIVE UPDATES: Vice President Sara Duterte's Impeachment Trial (Day 27)
REMOVE FROM RECORD
Public prosecutor Rep. Terry Ridon asked the court to strike from the record the accusations made by Gular.
He cited Gular's specific statements that the SEC summary showed "misrepresentation" and that there was an attempt "to condition the mind of the public."
"Ito (summary) naman ay aktuwal na dokumento na isinumite sa ating korte ng opisina ng nakaharap sa atin ngayon (Del Rosario)," Ridon said.
Lead defense lawyer Sheila Sison said striking the statements off the record would be "futile and meaningless" because they were made to support Gular's objection.
Escudero later ruled that "misrepresentation" be replaced with "inaccuracies" in the court records and that "to condition the mind of the public" be changed to "to make conclusions of fact to the public."
In a separate press briefing, the House of Representatives' prosecution panel firmly rejected the claim of attempting to condition the mind of the public.
"Wala pong manipulation doon. Walang mga sinasabing attempt para ma-condition ang isip ng ating mga taumbayan," said Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, spokesperson of the House prosecution.
Former congressman Robert Ace Barbers, an adviser to the House panel, added: "Wala pong katotohanan ‘yan. Ang sinasabi naman ng ating witness ay base naman sa dokumento na isinumite ng pangalawang pangulo."
OBJECTION TO 2 COMPANIES
Earlier in the proceedings, Gular also objected to Del Rosario's identification and authentication of documents belonging to Pikimong Pikimong Philippines Corp. and JTC Group of Companies because of no established connection between Duterte and the companies.
Matib said the prosecution would establish a connection between the two and other companies where Duterte has financial and business interests in, but Escudero decided to sustain the defense's objection and exclude the two companies.
Escudero said he would allow the two companies to be included in the proceedings and even recall Del Rosario to testify if the prosecution could show proof of their connection to the Vice President.
READ: Business interests declared in Duterte SALNs tackled at Senate impeachment trial
Duterte's business interests are being examined by the impeachment court as it continues to hear allegations that she amassed unexplained wealth, committed violations in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, and failed to divest certain financial and business interests.
A former judge of the country's anti-graft court earlier said the 1987 Constitution prohibits the president and vice president from directly or indirectly participating in any business while in office. — With a report from Allison Co, ABS-CBN News
RELATED VIDEO