LIVE UPDATES: Vice President Sara Duterte’s Impeachment Trial (Day 30)

Today is the 30th day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, with the Senate impeachment court set to continue hearing Article II on alleged unexplained wealth. PhilGEPS Division Chief Rendell Sopeña is expected to complete his testimony, while Police Major Joericson Sangalang of the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office will be presented next. 

1:37 p.m. – Trial is adjourned until 10 a.m. tomorrow.

1:36 p.m. – Escudero confirms that the whole day trial will begin on Thursday, October 1 until October 14. 

1:32 p.m. – Sangalang is excused from the witness stand. 

1:32 p.m. – Sangalang says the certification they issued is system generated and does not say what year the firearm was made. Senator-judge and Senate President Win Gatchalian says it is difficult to determine the real value of the firearm. 

1:24 p.m. – Zubiri: “It doesn’t really matter if you have one or 100 firearms as long as you follow the law and you follow the law to its proper implementation.” 

1:21 p.m. – Zamora ends her direct examination. Narvasa says he has nothing to cross.

1:18 p.m. – Sangalang says the total amount of Duterte’s firearms is P2,184,550, while that of Carpio’s is P5,035,820. He clarifies that the amounts are based on market value and not acquisition cost. 

1:05 p.m. – Sangalang says Carpio has 29 firearms, which includes one Class A like weapon.

1:04 p.m. – Sangalang says VP Duterte has 22 firearms, which includes three rifles that are Class A like weapons with automatic functions. According to the witness, only law enforcement agencies can acquire Class A like weapons. Individuals who have acquired these prior to the effectivity of the law, may continue their possession, but may not transfer to other firearms owners. 

12:57 p.m. – Sangalang says Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases Carpio, have License to Own and Possess Firearms (LTOPF) type 5, which allows ownership of more than 15 firearms.

12:54 p.m. – Escudero allows the presentation of Sangalang, instructs Zamora to abbreviate the proceedings. Escudero: “We find this witness not as convincing with respect to ill-gotten wealth.”

12:52 p.m. – Zamora argues that Section 34 of the SALN states personal properties, which include firearms, must be declared individually.

12:49 p.m. – Escudero asks Narvasa if they are willing to stipulate if they see the list of the supposed firearms owned by Duterte. Escudero: “I’m headed towards excluding this witness.” Narvasa says they believe the witness is irrelevant. 

12:47 p.m. – Senator-judge Juan Miguel Zubiri also expresses apprehension in the presentation of Sangalang, says many of them are firearms owners. Zubiri: “I don’t think it’s that much weight. We’re looking for the bigger evidence that they want to present. If any.”

12:44 p.m. – Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo asks what the relevance of Sangalang’s testimony is in relation to the alleged hidden/unexplained wealth. Tulfo: “I don’t see the relevance here.”

12:40 p.m. – Included in Zamora’s Offer of Testimony is to prove that Duterte and her husband own, possess, and maintain more than 50 firearms with a total value of at least P7 million.

12:38 p.m. – House Prosecutor Rep. Ysabel Zamora will do the direct examination of Sangalang. Atty. Carlo Joaquin Narvasa will represent the defense team.

12:36 p.m. – Trial resumes.

11:38 a.m. – Lunch break is declared; trial will resume at 12:30pm.

11:37 a.m. – Police Major Joericson Sangalang of the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office will be presented next. 

11:36 a.m. – Escudero says they are in receipt of a letter from Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte dated today. Mayor Duterte is requesting to be presented tomorrow and Wednesday — September 29 and 30 — instead of today, to have enough time to gather, organize, authenticate and reproduce the subpoenaed documents. Escudero grants the request. 

11:32 a.m. – Sopeña is excused from the witness stand.

11:32 a.m. – Escudero says it is up to the parties to clarify the matter regarding Duterte’s supposed ownership of GenCorp.

11:12 a.m. – Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo asks whether GenCorp is allowed to do business in Davao City given that VP Duterte is supposedly a part owner. Luistro says she believes this constitutes conflict of interest. Tulfo says Duterte should not own or participate in any business or company. According to Escudero, Duterte’s ownership should still be reconciled given that GenCorp did not declare her as a shareholder.

11:06 a.m. – Sopeña says out of the 15 contracts between the Davao City and GenCorp, 11 did not go through public bidding. These 11 contracts amount to about P7 million to P8 million, according to the witness.  

11:04 a.m. – Senator-judge Risa Hontiveros asks Sopeña if it is incorrect for a local government unit to have a contract with a company in which the mayor’s sister has an interest. Sopeña says he has no personal knowledge regarding this.

10:59 a.m. – Batungbacal ends his cross-examination. Luistro says she will not conduct redirect examination. 

10:59 a.m. – Batungbacal asks whether Sopeña can say whether a contract was awarded irregularly. Sopeña says oversight and compliance are not part of their mandate. 

10:54 a.m. – Sopeña says the PHILGEPS is not mandated to be present at any stage of the procurement process of contracts. 

10:52 a.m. – Sopeña says he has no personal knowledge if the Davao City local government had any role in the 34 contracts awarded to GenCorp — 33 from Philhealth Region 11 and one from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Region 11. 

10:48 a.m. – Batungbacal asks if every contract with GenCorp went through the procurement process. Sopeña says this is his assumption because an award notice was created. 

10:46 a.m. – Batungbacal asks Sopeña if every contract supposedly awarded to GenCorp Industries Inc. had corresponding awarded documents. Sopeña says those indicated were the only documents uploaded. The witness also confirms that no transaction was hidden from the public as the documents were uploaded in PHILGEPS.

10:35 a.m. – Atty. Roberto Batungbacal, counsel for the respondent, proceeds with his cross-examination.

10:34 a.m. – Rendell Sopeña, Chief of the Electronic Government Procurement Operations Division (EGPOD) of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) is called to the witness stand. 

10:31 a.m. – Senator-judge and Presiding Officer Francis Escudero asks Diokno to reduce his request for stipulation into writing, says the impeachment court will issue a ruling about this within the week, if not tomorrow. 

10:29 a.m. – Sison also points out that if the Constitution prohibits compelling a respondent to testify against himself, a request for admission should also not be allowed. 

10:24 a.m. – Atty. Sheila Sison, lead defense counsel counters Diokno’s manifestation. — “The constitutional guarantee protects as well the right to silence. As far back as 1905, we had the occasion to declare the accused has a perfect right to remain silent and his silence cannot be used as a presumption of his guilt.”

10:19 a.m. – Diokno says the objection must be overruled. He says though, that they are willing to enter into stipulations with the respondent in relation to bank documents and other document s produced by witnesses through subpoenas issued by the impeachment court. 

10:16 a.m. – House Prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno talks about their request for admission regarding bank, tax, and business records of Vice President Sara Duterte. Diokno says they merely want to speed up the process  in requesting admission or denial of the existence of these records. The counsel for the respondent had filed a formal objection to the request.

10:05 a.m. – Quorum is declared with 15 senator-judges present. 

10:03 a.m. – Day 30 of the #VPOnTrial is called to order.