ASEANEWS HEADLINE-VP DU30 IMPEACHMENT 11.10.26 DAY #41 | MANILA: ‘Evasive,’ conflicting answers test impeachment court’s patience

I’M REALLY SORRY, YOUR HONOR”: Davao City accountant Vingelin Bajan tells the impeachment court on Tuesday she could not remember signing documents or receiving salary from a firm that audited several companies linked to Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio. —Photo by Niño Jesus Orbeta | INQUIRER

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WATCH VIDEO:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrVhGBsiHW0

 

LIVE: Impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte (Day 41) | November 10, 2026

Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense team presents the city assessor of Island Garden City of Samal as its second witness before the impeachment court on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

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MANILA, Philippines — Evasive answers, repeated claims of failing to remember important documents, a potential conflict of interest involving a city accountant, and inconsistencies in property records are testing the patience of senator-judges in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, prompting warnings that witnesses who lie under oath could face contempt and perjury charges.

On Day 41 of the trial on Tuesday, senator-judges grilled Davao City accountant Vingelin Bajan over her inability to recall signing documents linking her to an accounting firm that later audited companies associated with Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio.

READ: Tulfo wants VP, whoever prepared her SALN as impeachment trial witnesses

They also questioned Island Garden City of Samal assessor John Kenneth Enumerables over conflicting details in property records involving the Vice President.

The exchanges drew expressions of disbelief and frustration from several senator-judges, with Senator-Judge Raffy Tulfo even proposing that Bajan be cited for contempt for allegedly evading questions.

Failed recollection

Bajan was the defense’s third witness on Article 2, which accuses Duterte of amassing unexplained wealth, failing to fully disclose her assets and liabilities in her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs), and failing to divest her business interests while in public office.

Bajan is called to testify that the P64,194.72 paid to Duterte by the Davao City local government in 2023 represented a salary differential, not double compensation. The prosecution’s cross-examination and the senator-judges’ interjections, however, centered on questions over her credibility.

Private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia confronted Bajan with the original Articles of Partnership of Ampil, Elises, Ciudadano & Co., a certified public accounting firm registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2003. The document showed Bajan among its partners and bore a signature she eventually acknowledged was hers.

But Bajan repeatedly said she could not remember signing the document or the circumstances surrounding her departure from the firm. She also failed to recall signing an amended Articles of Partnership in 2015 that removed her name.

“I’m really sorry, Your Honor. I cannot really remember all these documents,” Bajan told the court after long pauses.

Presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero repeatedly pressed her to answer directly, reminding her to look at the documents instead of the defense lawyers when responding.

“Did you file the amended Articles of General Partnership in 2015 removing your name from the accounting firm?” Escudero asked.

When Bajan again said she could not remember, Escudero warned that the court could issue orders compelling her to answer.

The presiding officer also questioned how an accountant, whose profession requires meticulous attention to documents, could not recall when she left a firm or whether she had signed papers bearing her name.

Divinagracia asked that the record reflect her observation that Bajan appeared unwilling or hesitant to answer.

Potential conflict

The testimony also raised questions about a potential conflict of interest. Bajan acknowledged that she had been a partner at Ampil, Elises, Ciudadano & Co., which later became Elises & Ciudadano. She said the firm was her first employer and that she withdrew from the partnership in 2015, before her appointment as Davao City accountant in 2016, when Duterte was mayor.

The prosecution presented General Information Sheets identifying Elises & Ciudadano as the external auditor, from 2019, of several companies linked to Duterte and Carpio, including GenCorp Industries Inc., Metro City Chow, Town Timesquare Bee Corp., City Hall King Chow, Chinese Gen Bee, Carpio Lawyer, Davao New Royal Taipan and Great Jolly Times Food Corp.

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Defense counsel Lindon Bacquel argued that Bajan was no longer connected with the firm when it audited the companies. Bajan likewise said she had no knowledge of the firm’s auditing work after her departure.

 

Disbelief

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Senator-Judge Risa Hontiveros expressed disbelief over Bajan’s inability to remember signing an important document involving a private company with which she had been associated for more than a decade.

Senator-judge Lito Lapid later quipped that Bajan might even have forgotten her birthday, drawing laughter at the end of the tense exchange. He said he felt sorry for her and suspected she might have been used, urging her to tell the truth because the senator-judges only wanted to establish what had happened.

Tulfo, meanwhile, questioned Bajan’s apparent evasiveness.

“Yesterday, one witness was laughing. Today, this witness is very evasive and pretending not to know. Why can’t we cite these people in contempt so that the impeachment court will be respected?” he said.

Escudero’s warning on contempt and perjury came after Senator-Judge Vicente “Tito” Sotto III asked what sanctions could be imposed on witnesses who lie under oath.

“They may be subject to contempt by the court,” Escudero said, adding that witnesses could also face perjury cases before the proper prosecutor’s office or courts because their statements were made under oath.

Senator-Judge Panfilo “Ping” Lacson reminded the court that its authority to punish contempt was expressly provided under the rules governing impeachment proceedings. He said the previous day’s hearing had not been good for the court because a witness had smirked and laughed, almost making a mockery of the proceedings.

Property record discrepancies

The court’s scrutiny also extended to Enumerables, the defense’s second witness, who was questioned over a 751-square-meter property declared in Duterte’s SALN.

The property’s Transfer Certificate of Title identified its location as Barangay Matanos, which Enumerables said does not exist in Samal, while the city’s tax records placed it in Barangay San Isidro.

Enumerables said the property could be identified through matching market and assessed values but admitted he could not be certain that it was the same property declared in Duterte’s SALN.

The acquisition cost also differed: the deed of sale listed P3.45 million, while the joint SALN of Duterte and Carpio declared P4.04 million.

Enumerables confirmed the amount in the deed but could not independently establish that the two documents referred to the same property.

Senator-Judge Erwin Tulfo faulted the assessor for failing to alert the Register of Deeds about the conflicting records, warning that such discrepancies could expose unsuspecting property buyers to questionable land titles. Lacson also urged him to correct the confusing records.

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In an earlier press briefing, prosecution spokesperson Robert Ace Barbers described the testimony of the defense’s first witness, Davao City assessor Jaime Adalin, as “incredible,” saying the witness had been evasive in explaining why a property owned by Carpio was supposedly the same lot declared in Duterte’s SALN.

Defense spokesperson Michael Poa declined to respond to Barbers’ criticism, invoking the sub judice rule.

Trial timeline

Escudero said he hoped the trial would conclude before Christmas or New Year, although he stressed that the court would not restrict the defense’s witnesses merely because their testimonies were repetitive. Only irrelevant evidence, he said, would justify limiting their presentation.

Meanwhile, Duterte spokesperson Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr. said resignation had never crossed the vice president’s mind because she was elected by the people. He described the impeachment proceedings as politicking and said Duterte was prepared to let the trial run its course. —With reports from Keith Clores and Isabelle Pechay /atm

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