The November 2024 video of Vice President Sara Duterte making a threat to kill President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez has been played before the Senate impeachment court and entered as evidence for the prosecution.
Several lawyers on Tuesday reiterated their plea for the Supreme Court (SC) to issue a status quo ante order and other interim relief against the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte as the proceedings continued on its second day.
In a 16-page very urgent manifestation with motion, the group of lawyer Israelito Torreon said they sought to inform the High Court of supervening events that took place during the trial, including the voting of the presiding officer.
The House prosecution panel on Tuesday asked the Senate impeachment court to allow it to present Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief of staff Zuleika Lopez and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag as witnesses in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
The prosecution panel requested the issuance of subpoenas ad testificandum directing Lopez and Matibag to appear and testify before the impeachment court on July 13 to 15, 2026 at 2 p.m.
Tagged as “witnesses,” the prosecution said that the two’s testimonies are “material, relevant, and necessary to establish the allegations” under Article IV of the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte.
Article IV centers on the alleged grave threats and an assassination plot by the Vice President against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Vice President Sara Duterte's brief appearance at the Senate on the second day of her impeachment trial could be part of her defense team's legal strategy, former Far Eastern University law dean Mel Sta. Maria said.
Duterte arrived at the Senate on Tuesday, hours before the impeachment proceedings resumed, to meet with her lawyers and briefly address reporters.
The prosecution on Tuesday sought to call Vice President Sara Duterte as a witness on the second day of her impeachment trial on Tuesday.
Private prosecutor lawyer Lorna Kapunan said Duterte's presence would be relevant to Tuesday's impeachment trial, which will tackle the "Assassination Plot, Grave Threats and Inciting to Sedition Against the President."
House prosecution panel spokesperson Rep. Renee Co of Kabataan Party-list on Tuesday downplayed the initial arguments raised by Vice President Sara Duterte's defense team, saying its opening statement did not categorically declare that Duterte was innocent of the Articles of Impeachment filed against her.
Co made the remark on Tuesday after Duterte appeared at the Senate to confer with her lawyers following the first day of her impeachment trial on Monday, when both the prosecution and the defense delivered their opening statements.
"Two things: Wala pong full stop claim that Vice President Sara is innocent. Iyon ang hinahanap natin sa kahit anong opening statement ng defense," Co said at a press conference.
(There was no categorical claim that Vice President Sara is innocent. That is what we were looking for in the defense's opening statement.)
Vice President Sara Duterte said Tuesday that she will be "bloodied but unbowed" amid her impeachment trial.
Duterte went to the Senate to meet with her defense lawyers.
In her brief appearance to the media, she said, "in this bloodbath and bludgeoning, I will be bloodied but unbowed."
The Vice President did not give a further statement nor answer any queries from the media.
Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday arrived in the Senate in time for the resumption of her impeachment trial this afternoon.
Duterte came to the Senate past 12 noon.
In a message to GMA News' Marisol Abdurahman, Duterte said that she is on her way to the Senate as she has no schedule in the Office of the Vice President.
Asked if she will attend the impeachment trial, Duterte said she will have a meeting with her defense team.
Vice President Sara Duterte confirmed Tuesday that she will be going to the Senate to meet her lawyers.
In a message to GMA News' Marisol Abdurahman, Duterte said that she is on her way to the Senate.
The Vice President’s security team was spotted on the Senate premises earlier on Tuesday.
The sealed green box containing the tax records of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, was sent back Tuesday to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), a day after the Senate impeachment court ordered that it be returned unopened.
In a Super Radyo dzBB report by Nimfa Ravelo, Senate Secretary and Clerk of the Impeachment Court Renato Bantug confirmed that the sealed box was already en route to the Office of the BIR Commissioner.
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