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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Sinasadya?': Defense 'slowing pace' of VP Duterte trial as prosecution preps for next COA witness

'Sinasadya?': Defense 'slowing pace' of VP Duterte trial as prosecution preps for next COA witness

Published Aug 9, 2026 09:21 pm

At A Glance

  • Prosecutor Tolosa blames Vice President Sara Duterte's defense team for slowing the pace of the impeachment trial, citing delays in comparing thousands of documents related to confidential funds.
  • He stresses that the prosecution is not causing the delay, noting senator-judges are losing patience as recesses are consumed by disputes over document authentication.
  • COA auditor Xylene del Campo is set to continue testimony on the P612.5 million confidential funds, taking over from a previous witness to cover notices of disallowance and later audit stages.
COA auditor Xylene del Campo (left), Vice President Sara Duterte's defense lawyers (Senate PRIB)
COA auditor Xylene del Campo (left), Vice President Sara Duterte's defense lawyers (Senate PRIB)


The House prosecution panel is blaming Vice President Sara Duterte's defense team for puportedly "slowing the pace" of the impeachment trial--whether by design or not.
Private prosecutor Benjamin "Jay" Tolosa Jr. was referring to the situation surrounding their current witness on the stand, Commission on Audit (COA) auditor Xylene del Campo.
De Ocampo is set to resume her testimony on respondent Duterte's alleged misuse of P612.5 million worth of confidential funds under article I during the continuation of the Senate impeachment trial Monday, Aug. 10.
Tolosa cited in particular the defense lawyers' refusal to immediately compare thousands of common documents between the prosecution and defense pertaining to the confidential funds.
He noted that the prosecution had repeatedly tried to arrange the comparison before the next scheduled hearing.
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“Ayoko namang husgahan, kung anong intentions nila if they're really doing this on purpose to try to derail or delay the proceedings. But what I will say, I think it's clear, whether it's intentional or not, eh, yan ang nagiging resulta, no,” Tolosa said.
(I don’t want to judge what their intentions are, if they’re really doing this on purpose to try to derail or delay the proceedings. But what I will say is, I think it’s clear, whether it’s intentional or not, that is the result.)
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He said the same problem surfaced during the June pre-trial conference, when more than 4,000 documents under article I had to be marked and the defense rejected the prosecution’s proposal to jointly mark common exhibits.
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Tolosa said the impeachment court had already given both sides another opportunity to compare their evidence outside the hearing, so trial time would not be consumed by document authentication.
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“But ang message nila sa amin (But their message to us is), they want to do it on the 14th,” Tolosa disclosed.
He pointed out that the proposed date would come after the hearing at which the prosecution needs the documents for Del Campo’s testimony.
“So we will have to let the presiding officer know about this para clear na hindi kami nagco-cause ng delay dito. Sinusubukan talaga namin gumawa ng paraan para mapabilis, no, but ito yung nangyayari,” he explained.
(So we will have to let the presiding officer know about this so it’s clear that we are not causing the delay here. We are really trying to find ways to speed things up, but this is what’s happening.)
Disputes over documents have already required recesses to allow the parties to compare and authenticate records in open court.
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“And nakita na natin, yung mga senator judges, they were starting to lose patience, dahil nga, syempre, sayang ang oras, pare-pareho,” added then lawyer-spokesperson.
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(And we have already seen that the senator judges were starting to lose patience, because of course, time is being wasted for everyone.)
Monday will be hearing date no. 14 as fas as the high-stakes trial is concerned. 
The prosecution said it remains prepared to present and authenticate the records individually if no agreement is reached, although doing so would consume additional trial time.
The P612.5 million confidential funds in question covers P500 million released to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and P112.5 million released to the Department of Education (DepEd) from December 2022 to the third quarter of 2023.
Del Campo testimony
As for Del Campo’s testimony, Tolosa says she is expected to take the confidential fund evidence beyond the point where the previous witness, state auditor Roderick Wamil’s personal knowledge ended.
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“May mga katanungan sa kanya (Wamil) particularly about the notice of disallowance. Sinasabi niya, I don't have personal knowledge about that anymore dahil umalis na siya. So ang humalili sa kanya, si Ms. Xylene, siya na ang magtutuloy ng kwento na yan,” he explained.
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(There were questions directed at him particularly about the notice of disallowance. He said, ‘I don’t have personal knowledge about that anymore because she had already left.’ So the one who succeeded him, Ms. Xylene, will be the one to continue that account.)
Wamil testified primarily on the audit stages and documents he personally handled before later portions of the process were taken over by other auditors.
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Tolosa rejected the suggestion that calling Del Campo would merely repeat the same testimony.
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“So may mga ibang tao nag-iisip, ah, pareho lang ba yung sasabihin? Hindi ho, no, magkaiba,” he stressed.
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He said the distinction is particularly important to the prosecution because the audit process progressed beyond observations and suspensions to notices of disallowance.

Related Tags

Sara Duterte IMPEACHMENT COA confidential funds Benjamin Tolosa Xylene del Campo
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