Sara Duterte's defense opens on Article II with Davao City Hall witnesses, and the court tests every answer

Day 40: the assessor and the Matina Crossing lot

The defense of Vice President Sara Duterte began presenting evidence on Monday, November 9, after the House prosecution rested on Day 39 and the Senate impeachment court admitted most of its documentary exhibits on November 6. One charge remains. Article II accuses the Vice President of amassing unexplained wealth of at least ₱817.87 million between 2022 and 2025. The court convened at 10 a.m., suspended for the Senate plenary, and heard its first defense witness in the afternoon. Defense spokesman Reginald Tongol said 24 witnesses were lined up for November 9 to 13 and that 22 subpoenas had been served. Dean Ralph Sarmiento withdrew from the defense panel before the session opened.

The first witness was Davao City Assessor Jaime Adalin, an engineer whose appointment was made permanent in 2017 under then Mayor Duterte. He testified that a 379 square meter lot in Matina Crossing registered to Manases Carpio, the Vice President's husband, is the same "residential lot, Barangay 74-A" entered in her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth. He read figures from the tax declaration and said a property identification map showed the two records were "one and the same." Prosecutor Benjamin "Jay" Tolosa Jr. then showed an electronic certificate authorizing registration dated July 24, 2024 for a lot in Juna Subdivision, Matina Crossing, Talomo, bought for ₱6 million including the improvement on it. The SALN entry carries an acquisition cost of ₱10 million and no block, lot or street number. Adalin could not account for the ₱4 million difference.

The questioning then turned to travel. Adalin at first said he could not recall any trip to China and called the question irrelevant, which drew laughter in the chamber, before confirming a 2025 trip after Senator Raffy Tulfo cut in. He said the officials paid for their own accommodation. Senate President Chiz Escudero, presiding, told him: "Funny ka do'n ha, Engineer Jimmy." Senator Erwin Tulfo warned him of contempt and said the hearing was turning into a "farce." Raffy Tulfo said the witness was "lying through his teeth" and pointed to a Prime Bistro sign standing on the property. House prosecution spokesperson Rep. Robert Ace Barbers told reporters during a break that the assessor had given "incredible testimony, hindi credible ha kundi incredible," and that the Vice President was not getting her money's worth from her lawyers.

On Tuesday Senator Panfilo Lacson reminded witnesses that Rule 5 of Senate Resolution No. 39 lets the court cite anyone for contempt, and said Monday "was not a good day for the impeachment court" after Adalin was seen smirking during the senators' interjections. Escudero added that the assessor had yet to submit the list of Duterte and Carpio properties in Barangay Matina Crossing and the name of the travel agency that arranged his China trip, both requested by the court. The defense had planned to call Matina Crossing Barangay Captain Cindy Colina to confirm the lot's identity. She was later struck from the witness list.

Day 41: the accountant, the audit firm and a senator's patience

Tuesday's witness was Davao City Accountant Vingelin Bajan, 50, appointed in 2016 under then Mayor Duterte. Guided by defense counsel Lindon Bacquel, she testified that ₱64,194.72 the Vice President received from the city in 2023 was not double compensation but salary differentials under the Salary Standardization Law of 2019, covering 2020 (₱31,718.64) and 2021 (₱32,476.08). The prosecution had cited the Bureau of Internal Revenue's Form 2316 to argue the payment breached Article VII, Section 13 of the Constitution, which bars the Vice President from holding any other office or employment during her term.

Private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia then produced the articles of partnership of Ampil, Elises, Ciudadano and Co., registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2003 with ₱1,000 in capital and amended in 2015, listing Bajan as a partner. Senator Joel Villanueva showed an affidavit of withdrawal effective August 1, 2015. Bajan said she "cannot remember" the firm, acknowledged her signature, and described herself as a "partner in name" who received "allowances." The firm, now Elises and Ciudadano, has been the external auditor of GenCorp Industries since 2019 and also audits Metro City Chow, Town Timesquare Bee, City Hall King Chow, Chinese Gen Bee, Davao New Royal Taipan and Great Jolly Times. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian noted that the same firm audits Carpio and the Vice President personally.

Escudero told the witness, "My patience is wearing thin," instructed her to stop looking toward the defense table, and reminded her the court could compel answers. Raffy Tulfo said, "Patikman kaya natin ma contempt." Senator Bam Aquino told her she was "in dangerous territory" after she could not say whether the firm had compensated her. Senator Risa Hontiveros asked who authorized her travel, and Bajan confirmed a December 2025 trip to China. Senator Lito Lapid quipped that she might have forgotten her own birthday. When Senator Tito Sotto asked what sanctions were available, Escudero listed contempt and perjury.

Samal City Assessor John Kenneth Enumerables followed and was questioned on conflicting records for properties on the island. House prosecutor Terry Ridon said afterward that the Davao officials had "so much to lose in making a mistake in the testimonies" and that self preservation explained the dodging: "They are workers for the Dutertes in the city government of Davao. The mayor is the brother of the vice president."

Day 42: GenCorp's lawyer and the ₱2.14 million return of capital

On Wednesday the defense called Suzette Balucanag Punay, corporate counsel of GenCorp Industries and Metro City Chow, as its fourth witness. She testified that GenCorp paid the Vice President ₱2,142,369.14 between 2022 and 2025: ₱337,500 in 2022, ₱555,750 from May to December 2023, ₱612,419 in 2024 and ₱636,700 in 2025, by checks drawn on the Jollibee Times Square branch. She called the payments a "return of capital" on a "loose investment," a phrase she said she coined herself.

The money, she said, traces to Davao Bounty Foods Corp., a 2007 Jollibee Times Square franchise that failed and whose articles of incorporation show ₱46,000 in capital stock. The investment was carried through Great Jolly Times Foods, then Times Square Bee Foods in 2013, then GenCorp. The Vice President was neither a stockholder nor an officer of GenCorp from 2022 to 2025, does not appear in its general information sheets, and received no dividends. Punay could not verify the original amount invested because there were "no written records." GenCorp operates five Jollibee branches in Davao City: Centerpoint Plaza, Gaisano Mall, Abreeza, Times Square Plaza Center and Bolton.

She disputed the report of forensic accountant Alexander Cabrera, which assigned the Vice President a 20 percent stake, ₱250,000 in paid up capital and ₱55,714,292 in undeclared 2023 income on an assumed ₱35 million per branch. Punay said GenCorp's total paid up capital was ₱1.25 million. Her description of the report as "absurd" was struck from the record after private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan objected. She could not explain why the Vice President declared GenCorp shares in her SALNs, and when Kapunan asked whether the Vice President is barred from receiving a second income she first declined to answer, then said she did not know. Raffy Tulfo told her: "You know that you will testify here, so you should have researched." Defense counsel Justin Nicol Gular handled the direct examination.

The contracts side of the GenCorp story was already on the record. Rendell Sopeña of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System had testified to 49 contracts worth ₱35.88 million with Davao City, PhilHealth Region XI and OWWA Region XI, with the Bolton branch handling the city orders. Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said 19 of those contracts, dated 2022 to 2026, were awarded while Mayor Sebastian Duterte, the Vice President's brother, ran City Hall, "proving conflict of interest." House Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V said after the session: "Looking at the trend and the pattern, there's already a hole in the boat. Looks like the boat is sinking." Late Wednesday defense counsel Michael Poa withdrew 15 bank representatives and the barangay captain from the list, keeping only BPI Senior Vice President Paul Roderick Ysmael. Barbers said about 70 percent of the listed witnesses were now gone and the trial could end before the year closes.

Day 43: a Tokyo dinner, basketball shoes and the calendar

On Thursday the defense dispensed with Ysmael as well, and the prosecution told the court it wanted to raise newly discovered dollar accounts. The day's main witness was lawyer Anel Martin Antero of Mendoza Antero and Associates, who described himself as a close friend of Carpio. He testified about a ₱205,007.29 bill, about ¥489,000, at Ginza Inakaya in Tokyo on May 19, 2023, a dinner for eleven that included Carpio and nine or ten law school friends. The bill went on Carpio's card and the group agreed to pay him back, with Antero's share around ¥40,000. Asked for proof of repayment he answered, "Wala po." Prosecutor Virgil Ligutan noted there were no photographs of the dinner and asked whether the couple lived modestly.

Cabrera's report had flagged more than ₱1 million in card charges, including ₱256,000 at the Nike Pavilion in Kuala Lumpur. Antero said Carpio bought more than 20 pairs of shoes there for players, parents and guardians of the Elite Philippines basketball team. Senator Pia Cayetano asked her colleagues whether any of them had bought gear for athletes, and several raised their hands. She also confronted the prosecution: "I'm warning you. I can't hide my disdain." Chadrin Parian and Quezon City Prosecutor Vimar Barcellano remained on the defense list.

The court will sit again on November 13, then on November 19, 20 and 23, with the names of the remaining witnesses to be disclosed under the five day notice rule. Senators have said the trial could run into December.

What four days changed

The defense entered the week with a plain theory on each item: the lot is declared, the back pay is lawful, the Jollibee money is old capital coming home. None of its witnesses abandoned that theory. What changed is the court's posture. Escudero raised contempt twice, Lacson cited the contempt rule by number, and senators on three different days accused witnesses of lying or evasion.

The prosecution did not have to prove anything new this week. It needed the ₱4 million gap on the Matina lot, the audit firm's ties to the Carpio companies, and the untraceable origin of the GenCorp investment left unexplained, and they were. With 17 names gone from the list, the defense's remaining calendar is short. Conviction takes 16 of the 24 senators.