ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider VP Duterte wants speedy trial? But defense team has been causing delays, says Ridon

VP Duterte wants speedy trial? But defense team has been causing delays, says Ridon

Published Aug 21, 2026 05:58 pm

At A Glance

  • Prosecutors say Duterte's defense team caused trial delays by refusing to stipulate on common exhibits tied to confidential funds.
  • Senator Escudero has intervened to resolve disputes over thousands of documents, preventing longer delays.
  • Ridon stresses both sides must avoid unnecessary maneuvers if they want a faster impeachment process.
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook)
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook)


Vice President Sara Duterte can blame her own defense team over her frustrations for a "speedy" impeachment trial.
This, after House prosecutor Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon pointed out that certain moves from Duterte’s defense lawyers have caused delays in the proceedings.
“Meron pong talagang ilang mga maneuvers na ginawa ‘yung defense para ma-delay ‘yung proceedings,” Ridon said during an online press briefing Friday, Aug. 21.
Ridon was reacting to Duterte’s recent call for a speedy trial and subsequent remarks from private prosecutor Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. that the Vice President should relay such concern to her defense lawyers.
Since the Senate impeachment trial began on July 6, only 16 hearings have so far been carried out.
Tolosa earlier said several actions and inactions by the defense contributed to delays in the proceedings.
Ridon cited the defense’s refusal to stipulate on common exhibits, including acknowledgment receipts (ARs) related to Duterte’s confidential fund expenditures.
“So katulad ho ng mga (So these are like) common exhibits, it is basically the same exhibits, acknowledgment receipts, pero (but) they did not want to stipulate,” he said.
The prosecution and defense had clashed over thousands of documents involving confidential fund expenditures of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd).
The defense have declined to stipulate to much of the prosecution’s documentary evidence, prompting disputes over the comparison, identification and authentication of the records.
The court presided over by Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero subsequently directed the parties to compare the documents, including ARs submitted to account for confidential fund spending.
Ridon said the dispute could have consumed even more trial time without this intervention from Escudero.
“So I think that’s an example na parang kung pinabayaan lang po ito ng presiding officer, hindi po talaga mare-resolve ‘yon sa pinakamaagang panahon,” he said.
Ridon said the issue has since been resolved, but stressed that both sides have a responsibility to avoid unnecessary delays if they want the trial expedited.
“So siyempre (of course), ‘yung expediting the proceedings naman cuts both ways. So it’s not just for us. It’s also for the defense, but also for the court itself,” he explained.
He said documents that can reasonably be covered by stipulations should no longer take up unnecessary trial time, particularly when they originated from Duterte’s own offices.
Prosecution eyes shorter trial
The prosecution has maintained that it has been looking for ways to shorten the proceedings. Ridon previously described the defense’s refusal to stipulate to documents originating from the OVP and DepEd as a delaying tactic.
Ridon said the trial had otherwise been moving continuously before inclement weather forced the cancellation of two trial days last Aug. 18 and 19.
He said weather disruptions, rather than the normal conduct of the proceedings, were among the unforeseen circumstances that have affected the timetable.
“Barring another round of massive rainfall, hopefully naman ho wala nang further delays (hopefully there are no future delays),” Ridon said.
Vice President Duterte's conviction via impeachment trial is being sought over her offices' alleged misuse of P612.5 million worth of confidential funds; untruthful declarations in the filing of her statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth; unexplained wealth; and death threats to President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez.

Related Tags

Sara Duterte impeachment Terry Ridon defense prosecution
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ static_articles_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.