Members of the 11-man House prosecution panel expressed confidence that their case against Vice President Sara Duterte is “solid,” with or without her bank records, but said obtaining financial documents would provide further confirmation of alleged irregularities and ill-gotten wealth.
On Tuesday, House Assistant Majority Leader Pammy Zamora of Taguig City, a key member of the Impeachment Secretariat, assured the public that the House prosecution team has already gathered substantial evidence across multiple Articles of Impeachment.
However, she said that financial records, if secured, would serve as further proof of the money trail.
“The prosecution team is ready to present a strong case, even without the bank records. The evidence we have right now is compelling and backed by documents, testimonies, and official records,” Zamora stressed.
“But if we can secure the Vice President’s financial records, it will be the icing on the cake—a definitive, undeniable piece of evidence that will speak for itself, supporting several of the Articles of Impeachment,” she added.
She emphasized that the impeachment case against the Vice President is built on hard evidence and investigating her was never a “fishing expedition.”
Zamora pointed out that the House prosecutors have already secured official documents exposing alleged irregularities in the OVP and DepEd’s confidential funds, and collected testimonies linking questionable transactions to improper fund disbursements.
Furthermore, they have established a timeline showing alleged inconsistencies in how public money was allocated and spent, and coordinated with financial oversight agencies such as the Commission on Audit (COA) to track fund movements.
“Our case does not depend on a single piece of evidence. We have already connected the dots. The financial records, if obtained, will simply validate and confirm what the documents and testimonies have already revealed,” she explained.
For his part, House Assistant Majority Leader and Zambales Rep. Jay Khonghun urged the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability to include the COA’s latest findings on P12.3 billion in alleged unsettled financial transactions at the Department of Education (DepEd) in its ongoing investigation.
He pointed out that this would strengthen the impeachment case against Duterte.
COA’s 2023 annual audit report flagged DepEd’s alleged failure to settle massive notices of suspension, disallowance, and charge, which reached P12.3 billion by the end of Duterte’s term as education secretary.
The amount increased from P11.4 billion in 2022, indicating little to no progress in resolving the flagged transactions.
“The red flags keep piling up. First, it was P125 million in confidential funds spent in just 11 days at the Office of the Vice President (OVP). Now, COA has flagged over P12 billion in unresolved transactions at DepEd under Duterte’s leadership. This isn’t just an oversight—it’s a pattern of seemingly financial mismanagement,” Khonghun said.
Further scrutiny revealed that 1,322 of 1,992 listed recipients of these funds lacked birth records, raising concerns about possible fabrication of acknowledgment receipts.
Meanwhile, Senate President Francis Escudero said the Upper chamber cannot be rushed into holding Duterte’s impeachment trial, citing the need for preparations.
He explained that, historically, impeachment trials in the Philippines do not start immediately after a complaint is filed.
“It will not happen forthwith, not immediately the next morning or the following day, because the Senate still has many preparations to complete before the trial begins,” he said in an interview on DZBB.
He cited past cases, such as late Chief Justice Renato Corona’s trial, which began about a month and a half after the complaint was filed.
Similarly, he recalled the impeachment complaint against former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, which was filed in March but scheduled for trial in May before her resignation halted the proceedings.