LIVE UPDATES: Vice President Sara Duterte’s Impeachment Trial (Day 31)
Today is the 31st day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, with Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte expected to take the witness stand and testify on Davao City government transactions involving GenCorp Industries, as the Senate continues hearing Article II on alleged unexplained wealth.
2:17 p.m. – Trial is adjourned.
2:14 p.m. – Escudero says they will not issue the subpoena for Trillanes, but notes that the court cannot prevent the prosecution from calling him as a witness voluntarily. Escudero reminds, though, that the cart cannot be put ahead of the horse.
2:12 p.m. – Escudero earlier said the prosecution mentioned that Trillanes’ testimony is in relation to funds and bank accounts and threfore, should come after the testimony of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) or after bank accounts have been presented. According to Ridon, Trillanes will also speak on other related matters and not just on bank accounts.
2:08 p.m. – Escudero declares a brief recess.
2:06 p.m. – Sison says they withdraw their objection to the presentation of Trillanes and will examine him if he will be presented tomorrow.
2:02 p.m. – Sison points out that this is the second time the prosecution is changing the order of its presentation of witnesses for this week.
2:01 p.m. – House Prosecutor Rep. Terry Ridon says their additional witness is former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. Trillanes will be presented as the first witness tomorrow.
2:00 p.m. – Mayor Duterte is excused from the witness stand.
1:47 p.m. – Mayor Duterte confirms Jaime T. Cruz has a close relationship with their family being a friend of his father, a business partner of his sister, and his business partner in a different company.
1:41 p.m. – Senator-judge and Senate President Win Gatchalian asks Mayor Duterte why GenCorp had a lot of contracts with Davao City. The witness says Domingo told him GenCorp was the most qualified.
1:37 p.m. – Duterte says VP Sara has never intervened nor participated in any procurement contract of Davao City after serving as its local chief executive. He says they never received any request from her regarding any transaction. Mayor Duterte also says VP Sara never requested them to favor GenCorp.
1:35 p.m. – Mayor Duterte says the 19 contracts of GenCorp with the Davao City are above board and legal.
1:30 p.m. – Mayor Duterte says he has no personal knowledge about the companies VP Sara may have stockholding, investment, and beneficial ownership in. He says they do not discuss this.
1:26 p.m. – Duterte says they did not see the name of his sister in the documents they gathered and compiled.
1:25 p.m. – According to Duterte, the contracts of PhilHealth Region 11 is separate from those of the local government unit of Davao City.
1:24 p.m. – Mayor Duterte says he does not know why the number of contracts with GenCorp was less in the PHILGEPS database. He says Davao City just produced the records they have in compliance with the subpoena.
1:22 p.m. – Duterte adds that he needed to delegate his authority as HOPE to Domingo because he has a lot of work as City Mayor.
1:20 p.m. – According to Mayor Duterte, he was never a member of the BAC and as HOPE, never interfered with the deliberations of BAC.
1:18 p.m. – Mayor Duterte confirms that no contracts were entered into between Davao City and GenCorp when VP Sara was still mayor of the city.
1:15 p.m. – Gular proceeds with his cross-examination.
1:13 p.m. – Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo points out that GenCorp was established in 2020. And since it has been in contract with Davao City from 2022 to 2026, then the requirement for a company to be in existence for at least five years is already violated. Duterte says he will have to check with the BAC, which may have modified the rules on submission.
1:09 p.m. – Te ends his direct examination. Gular asks for time to get ready for his cross-examination. Senator-judges are allowed to make their interjections.
1:08 p.m. – The witness says he does not know that Jaime T. Cruz is a main stockholder of GenCorp.
1:05 p.m. – Mayor Duterte says he knows Jaime T. Cruz, who is his business partner. He confirms that his, the name of his brother, Rep. Paolo Duterte, and the name of Cruz appear in the General Information Sheet of Chinese Gen Bee Food Corporation.
1:02 p.m. – Mayor Duterte says he would not have allowed a contract to be awarded to GenCorp if he knew that VP Duterte was a stockholder or shareholder of the company.
12:57 p.m. – Mayor Duterte says he did not review the 19 contracts with GenCorp and that the one who approved these was Atty. Tristan Domingo.
12:50 p.m. – Te asks Mayor Duterte on small value procurement. Gular says they have given the prosecution much leeway, and that they are yet to see the relevance of the line of questioning Escudero says he agrees with Gular and that the witness, as HOPE, will not have personal knowledge on what the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) does.
12:43 p.m. – Escudero asks Te to already move to his main point and connect the line of questioning to Article 2. Escudero says Mayor Duterte is not the one on trial.
12:31 p.m. – Of the 19 contracts of GenCorp and Davao City, 13 are completed and paid while six are ongoing.
12:29 p.m. – Mayor Duterte says he does not know of GenCorp’s operations as HOPE and Mayor of Davao City. He also does not know that GenCorp operated a Jollibee branch.
12:25 p.m. -Mayor Duterte says he did not personally scrutinize the corporate documents of GenCorp. Duterte: “Most of the submissions for procurement, I cannot look at all of these.”
12:20 p.m. – Mayor Duterte is called back to the witness stand.
12:19 p.m. – Gular says the accurate term is “there was no testimony in respect to four transactions.”
12:18 p.m. – Te says 15 of the documents brought by Mayor Duterte matched the documents produced by the PHILGEPs witness; four were not in the PHILGEPS testimony.
12:16 p.m. – Trial resumes.
10:53 a.m. – Trial goes on break and will resume at 12:15pm.
10:50 a.m. – Mayor Duterte is excused from the witness stand. Escudero gives his ruling on the request for admission.
10:49 a.m. – Te asks for a 15-minute recess to look at the documents brought by Duterte given that there are 19 contracts awarded by Davao City to GenCorp, not 15 as the PHILGEPS previously mentioned.
10:42 a.m. – Duterte says GenCorp was rigorously evaluated.
10:41 a.m. – Mayor Duterte confirms that Davao City entered into contracts with GenCorp to supply food services from 2022 to 2025.
10:39 a.m. – Mayor Duterte says he is not familiar with Vice President Sara Duterte’s declaration of interest in GenCorp.
10:38 a.m. – Mayor Duterte says his familiarity with GenCorp Industries Inc. is limited to what has been said about it in the impeachment court.
10:37 a.m. – Mayor Duterte confirms he is the Head of Procuring Entity (HOPE) for Davao City. He also confirms that he authorized a certain Atty. Tristan Dwight Domingo to sign contracts for the city on his behalf.
10:27 a.m. – Senator-judge and Presiding Officer Francis Escudero says the adverse interest of the witness has been established and declares him a hostile witness. Te is allowed to ask leading questions.
10:23 a.m. – Te requests the impeachment court to characterize Mayor Duterte as a hostile witness and allow the prosecution to ask leading questions. Gular says the prosecution was not able to qualify Duterte as a hostile witness.
10:21 a.m. – Mayor Duterte says he attended the trial only because he was subpoenaed.
10:21 a.m. – Mayor Duterte also confirms a statement dated Sep. 21, 2026 posted on Facebook. The statement says, “Let us be vigilant in managing information and not fall pray to deceptive claims and orchestrated narratives engineered solely to serve political motives that suit personal interests and promote disunity.”
10:18 a.m. – Te asks Mayor Duterte if he recalls having made statements describing the impeachment court in his interviews with the media. Duterte says he does not remember. Te shows the witness a social media post regarding the mentioned statement. Duterte confirms making the statement, says it was his perception.
10:14 a.m. – Te states his Offer of Testimony.
10:10 a.m. – Mayor Duterte is called to the witness stand.
10:09 a.m. – Atty. Theodore “Ted” Te will do the direct examination of Mayor Duterte. Atty. Justin Gular will represent the defense team.
10:09 a.m. – Lead defense counsel Atty. Sheila Sison says they also need time to look at the documents. Senator-judge and Presiding Officer Francis Escudero directs the clerk of court to produce copies for the parties.
10:07 a.m. – House Prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno asks the impeachment court for a few minutes to peruse the documents brought by Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte.
10:05 a.m. – Quorum is declared with 18 senator-judges present.
10:02 a.m. – Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV arrives in the Senate, says he is here as a guest
10:01 a.m. – Day 31 of the #VPOnTrial is called to order.