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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Escudero calls out Duterte's lawyer who boasted about VP's Bar exam grades during trial

Escudero calls out Duterte's lawyer who boasted about VP's Bar exam grades during trial

Published Jul 14, 2026 06:19 pm

At A Glance

  • Senate Impeachment Court Presiding Judge Francis "Chiz" Escudero called out one of Vice President Sara Duterte's lawyers for making remarks related to her grades during the Bar examinations.
Senate Impeachment Court Presiding Judge Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Tuesday, July 14 called out one of Vice President Sara Duterte’s lawyers for making remarks related to her grades during the Bar examinations.
This, after defense counsel Mark Vinluan, brought up Duterte’s impressive legal background while conducting a cross-examination of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) official Jeremy Lotoc, a witness of the House prosecution panel during the continuation of Duterte’s impeachment trial. 
Vinluan mentioned Duterte’s legal background when he asked Lotoc if he believes the vice president’s alleged plan to assassinate the President, his wife and the former House Speaker, would make any sense being a lawyer.
The defense lawyer was referring to Duterte’s statement during a November 2024 press conference where she supposedly hired a killer to assassinate the President and members of his family if she were killed first.
“Are you aware that the Vice President is a lawyer? That she has, of course, a law degree and passed the Bar Exams? With a first attempt and with a rating of 80 percent, are you aware of this?” Vinluan asked Lotoc, who is also a lawyer.
“She has a higher grade than most of the lawyers here,” the defense counsel further stressed.
Virgil Ligutan, counsel for the prosecution, immediately objected Vinluan’s remarks saying it has no relevance to the issue being asked of the witness.Escudero agreed to this, and asked Vinluan to avoid such “disparaging statements.”
“Counsel for the respondent, kindly avoid those disparaging statements given that there are a lot of lawyers here and you don’t know what their grades are,” said Escudero, who is also a lawyer.
In April 2026, Duterte criticized the House Committee on Justice saying she personally took issue with the claims that she needed help to get through law school.
This was after her self-confessed and alleged “bagman” Ramil Madriaga, whom the House panel described as a “key witness” testified and challenged Duterte’s claim that they had no professional or personal relationship.
In his affidavit, Madriaga claimed he got close to her through Atty. Ryan Rey Quilala whom he said was previously Duterte’s professor and former Associate Dean.
According to Madriaga, Quilala shared with him that "Sara was not particularly good in school, often struggling with her academics, and habitually rude and violent to other students."
Because of this, Madriaga said Quilala was forced to use his influence in the San Sebastian College of Law to ensure that Duterte is able to receive passing grades despite her poor academic performance. 

Related Tags

Duterte impeachment case 2026 impeachment trial Senate impeachment court Chiz Escudero Duterte defense team
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