Day 10 Impeachment: Ex-Bank Officials Testify on OVP, DepEd Multi-Million Cash Encashments

MANILA — The Senate impeachment court turned its focus to Article I of the impeachment charges against Vice President Sara Duterte on 29 July 2026, hearing testimony from retired banking officials regarding multi-million-peso cash withdrawals.

The 10th day of the trial commenced with a ruling from Presiding Officer Francis Escudero maintaining the original sequence of proceedings after the defense team rejected a proposal from the prosecution for an alternating presentation of evidence per article.

"It's clear based on your written manifestations that there's no agreement between the two parties," Escudero ruled. "Therefore, we shall proceed... we shall finish with the presentation of evidence-in-chief of the prosecutors for all of the articles of impeachment... Thereafter, we will hear the evidence-in-chief of the respondent."

Friction Over Prosecution's Opening Remarks

Tensions briefly flared before witness testimony began when Escudero ordered House prosecutor Leila de Lima to halt her opening statement for Article I following repeated objections from the defense.

Escudero had initially reminded de Lima before recognizing her to "avoid conclusions of both fact and law." Two minutes into her speech, de Lima asserted that "the evidence will reveal a pattern, a systemic course of conduct that, taken as a whole, demonstrates graft and corruption and betrayal of public trust."

Defense counsel Michael Poa immediately objected, contending that such concluding remarks belonged in the offer of evidence and raised concerns over fair play given the public nature of the broadcast. Escudero ordered de Lima's statement stricken from the record and instructed her to wind up. Following further objections from the defense less than a minute later, Escudero stopped de Lima from continuing her remarks altogether, directing the prosecution to proceed directly to calling its witnesses.

Bank Officials Testify on Large Encashments

The prosecution, led by Representative Joel Chua, then presented former Land Bank of the Philippines Shaw Boulevard branch manager Violeta Constantino as its first witness for Article I. Constantino oversaw the encashment of four cheques totaling ₱500 million—worth ₱125 million each—issued by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) between December 2022 and July 2023.

During questioning by Senator Erwin Tulfo on whether such large cash withdrawals were typical for government agencies, Constantino characterised them as out of the ordinary.

"Wala po. Unusual po ito (There are none. This is unusual)," Constantino stated under oath.

She clarified to the court that while the volume of cash was extraordinary, the bank did not flag the transactions as procedurally improper or suspicious because they were backed by required advance advice documents and proper authorization. Constantino described the physical handling of the funds during interpellation, recalling that the cash was packed into three to four gym bags and moved using a bank trolley.

The defense team opted not to cross-examine Constantino, waiving their line of questioning after stipulating to the authenticity of the cheques at the start of her appearance.

DepEd Branch Manager Concludes Morning Session

Following Constantino, former LandBank DepEd branch manager Nenita Camposano testified regarding three encashments amounting to ₱112.5 million—₱37.5 million each—processed during Duterte's tenure as Secretary of the Department of Education.

Camposano testified that routine cash withdrawals for the department typically averaged around ₱100,000 per month for contractual personnel payroll. Under questioning by Senator Joel Villanueva, Camposano agreed that the term "unusual" aligned with standard Bangko Sentral regulations regarding account behaviour that deviates from typical operational patterns.

Similar to Constantino, Camposano noted that the transactions complied with banking documentation procedures and were properly funded upon encashment.

The trial was suspended in the afternoon, with the prosecution scheduled to resume its presentation of evidence for Article I when proceedings reconvene on 5 August 2026.