Sara Duterte impeachment trial: Military officials to testify on confidential funds

The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte enters its 20th day with a new witness expected to be presented by the House prosecution panel on Tuesday, September 1. This time, the witness will come from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). The prosecution will call to the witness stand retired Colonel Manaros Boransing II to testify on Article I of the impeachment case, which accuses Duterte of committing impeachable offenses due to systematic misappropriation and irregular liquidation of confidential funds. His testimony is anticipated to shed light on these allegations. To recall, in October 2024, lawyer Michael Poa told the House good government and public accountability panel that he asked then-Department of Education (DepEd) undersecretary and retired Major General Nolasco Mempin to request certifications from military units to back up the department's spending of P15 million in confidential funds for informants in 2023. These military certifications are now central to the impeachment proceedings. The Senate impeachment court has also issued a revised subpoena for Colonel Magtangol Panopio. His testimony will come after Boransing. Boransing and Panopio were among the military officials who previously said that they issued military certifications, but maintained they were not aware that these were used to liquidate the DepEd's confidential funds. On Friday, House prosecution panel adviser and former Surigao del Norte Representative Ace Barbers and House Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V of La Union said that the military certifications issued by Boransing and Panopio to justify DepEd's confidential fund spending carry great weight because, aside from these being public funds, it is not the job of the military to liquidate these confidential fund disbursements of DepEd. The prosecution team also said that Poa, then-undersecretary and spokesperson of the DepEd, has a lot to explain before the Senate impeachment court on how the P112.5 million in confidential funds of the DepEd was used during the tenure of Duterte as Education chief. —LDF/KG, GMA News