The Senate impeachment trial of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte and a declared frontrunner for the 2028 presidential election, continued this week with its 21st day of proceedings on Wednesday, September 2, as prosecutors considered dropping one of the case’s core charges even as new hostile witness testimony emerged.
Michael Poa, former spokesperson and chief of staff for the Department of Education, took the stand as the prosecution’s third hostile witness, facing questions over the department’s use of confidential funds and Armed Forces of the Philippines certifications used to support spending claims before the Commission on Audit. Defence counsel Sheila Sison’s cross-examination focused on a ₱75 million Commission on Audit credit notice tied to the department’s confidential funds. The hearing also addressed the possible shortening of the overall trial timeline and confirmed prosecutors are weighing whether to drop the bribery article from the case entirely.
Duterte was impeached for a second time by the House of Representatives on May 11, 2026, becoming the first Philippine vice president impeached twice, on charges including betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the constitution, graft and corruption, and bribery tied to alleged misuse of Office of the Vice President and Department of Education funds, undisclosed wealth, and alleged threats to assassinate President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. One of the most serious underlying allegations involves private bank transactions exceeding $110 million flagged by the Philippines’ anti-money-laundering agency. Duterte denies all wrongdoing and has called the proceedings politically motivated, framing them as the culmination of a bitter feud with Marcos that has fractured what was once a powerful joint political ticket between two of the country’s most dominant political dynasties. A conviction requires a two-thirds vote of the 24-seat Senate and would strip her of the vice presidency while permanently barring her from elected office, a outcome that would directly end her stated 2028 presidential ambitions; a late-May survey had put her support for that race at 51 percent, underscoring how much is riding on the trial’s eventual outcome.
