Ex-Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Testifies in VP Duterte Impeachment Trial

Former Sandiganbayan presiding justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang took the witness stand in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday. During direct examination by prosecutor Chel Diokno, Cabotaje-Tang said she graduated from San Beda College of Law in 1979. After passing the Bar Examinations and taking her oath in 1980, Cabotaje-Tang joined the Supreme Court as a judicial assistant, a position she held for two years. She then moved to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), where she worked for almost 31 years and handled more than 1,000 cases by her estimate. Following her stint at the OSG, Cabotaje-Tang was appointed associate justice of the Sandiganbayan, the country's anti-graft court. She later served as Sandiganbayan presiding justice from 2013 to 2024. According to Cabotaje-Tang, the presiding justice is the primus inter pares, or “first among equals.” “But in terms of formal rank, we are all equal, except that the presiding justice does some administrative work and leads the cour,” she said. Cabotaje-Tang retired from the Sandiganbayan in 2024. She currently teaches Criminal Law at San Beda University and the University of Santo Tomas.— MCG, GMA News