Vice President Sara Duterte speaks to her legal counsel, as she refuses to enter the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, citing safety concerns, before posting bail for her grave threats case on Saturday, September 5, 2026. A Quezon City RTC issued an arrest warrant Friday against Duterte on three counts of grave threats after she claimed during a November 2024 press briefing that she had hired an assassin to kill President Marcos, the First Lady, and Speaker Romualdez. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News
MANILA — Repeated "omissions" in Vice President Sara Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) may no longer be considered "good faith" errors, House lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro said Wednesday.
Luistro said public officials are expected to familiarize themselves with the rules governing SALN preparation, even if there is no formal government orientation on how to fill out the form.
“There are existing provisions of law, hindi lang dito sa anti-graft even in the Constitution and in [RA] 6713 which will properly guide the government officials on this,” Luistro said in an interview with ANC’s Headstart.
The prosecution has argued that Duterte had multiple opportunities to correct omissions in her SALNs, particularly concerning her business interests and shares of stock.
Luistro said mistakes in a SALN may be treated differently when they are made in good faith and subsequently corrected.
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“But let us remember also what was pointed out by retired chief presiding justice of the Sandigan, Cabotaje-Tang, na kapag repeated yung error. This may be considered as an action which does not fall anymore under the purview of good faith,” he said.
Lack of cash declaration in Sara Duterte SALNs brought up again in impeachment hearing
SEC WITNESS ON ALLEGED UNDECLARED SHARES
Luistro said the prosecution will leave it to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish the extent and value of Duterte’s alleged undeclared shareholdings.
SEC Company Registration and Monitoring Department Director Gerardo del Rosario is scheduled to testify next week.
Luistro said Duterte’s declaration of financial or business interests in a corporation should be accompanied by the corresponding value of her shareholdings.
“If corporation ‘yan, nilagay mo diyan that you have financial or business interest in that corporation, it follows na may pag-aari ka ng shares of stock. And we’re supposed to indicate how much is the value of the shares of stock,” he said.
He added that for proprietorships, the capital investment should likewise be indicated because this represents the extent of ownership in the business.
TRILLANES STILL ON WITNESS LIST
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV remains on the prosecution’s witness list, but Luistro said his appearance is not guaranteed.
“Not only with respect to Senator Trillanes, that possibility arises with respect to all succeeding witnesses,” Luistro said.
Luistro said the prosecution is also still considering businessman Sammy Uy, who has been linked to alleged deposits into an account associated with Duterte and former President Rodrigo Duterte.
He said the prosecution generally avoids presenting hostile witnesses but had reserved the option to call Uy if his testimony proves relevant and necessary.
“That is still on the table because remember, we made reservation in our pre-trial brief and that reservation was carried over to the pre-trial order,” Luistro said.
Luistro also confirmed that the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) will testify in the impeachment proceedings.
He clarified that AMLC reports cited by the prosecution concern suspicious transactions and do not necessarily represent the total amount of money or deposits owned by an account holder.
He said the AMLC records could also be compared with Trillanes’ previous testimony on alleged transactions involving Duterte.
VOTING THRESHOLD
Luistro said the House prosecution will argue for an interpretation of the Constitution that could make it easier to reach the number of votes needed to convict Duterte.
He stressed, however, that the dispute is not about the two-thirds requirement itself but about what constitutes the base for calculating two-thirds of “all the Members of the Senate.”
“I think what needs to be clarified is the base. That phrase, ‘all members of the Senate,’” Luistro said.
The Senate impeachment court will tackle the question on how many votes are needed to secure a conviction or acquittal in an impeachment trial through amici curiae on Wednesday.
Amici curiae tackle conviction threshold in impeachment trial
Luistro said the prosecution is considering whether senators who are unable to participate in the impeachment proceedings should be included in calculating the threshold.
“I think that’s good to ask because Senator Bato Dela Rosa still has no case in the Philippines but he did not take the oath,” he said.
The prosecution has yet to identify which member of its panel will argue its position before the impeachment court.
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