Highlights: Day 42 of Sara Duterte impeachment trial | Nov. 11, 2026

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense team called off the planned presentation of 15 bank officials on Day 42 of the impeachment trial, with spokesperson Michael Poa saying only lawyer Paul Roderick Ysmael, senior vice president of the Bank of the Philippine Islands, would be presented on Thursday.

The defense had earlier signaled it would summon representatives of nine banks where Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, maintain accounts.

READ: Highlights: Day 41 of Sara Duterte impeachment trial | Nov. 10, 2026

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The day’s main witness was GenCorp Industries Inc. and Metro City Chow Foods Corp. corporate counsel Suzette Balucanag-Punay, the defense’s fourth witness, who testified that the vice president had no involvement in procurement contracts between GenCorp and the Davao City local government unit.

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Balucanag-Punay said Duterte held only a “loose investment” in a Jollibee Times Square branch in Davao City, while the government contracts involved a separate Bolton branch. The defense presented her to rebut prosecution claims that Duterte failed to divest her business interests.

The prosecution initially challenged Balucanag-Punay’s authority to testify, with private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan questioning whether she had board resolutions or secretaries’ certificates authorizing her appearance.

Presiding Officer Francis Escudero allowed her testimony on the presumption that the two corporations had waived attorney-client privilege, but ruled she could not selectively invoke the privilege during questioning about the companies.

The Senate impeachment court also received on Wednesday the property records of Duterte and Carpio in Davao City, submitted by Davao City Assessor Engr. Jaime Adelin in response to earlier requests from senator-judges. Escudero informed the court that it had received via email certifications of records regarding properties declared for tax purposes under both names.

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Separately, defense spokesperson Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr. urged Sen. Raffy Tulfo to temper his questioning of defense witnesses, saying Tulfo’s scolding had become his “trademark” and that the same conduct by a lawyer would have been considered “badgering.”

Panelo appealed for witnesses to be treated with patience, noting they were answering to the best of their ability. /dp

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Sources

1. LIVE UPDATES: Sara Duterte impeachment trial | Nov. 11, 2026
2. Panelo asks Tulfo to tone down scolding of defense witnesses
3. Impeach court gets records on Duterte-Carpio Davao City properties
4. VP Duterte’s camp calls off presentation of 15 bank execs as witnesses
5. Sara Duterte had no hand in GenCorp – Davao City contracts, says witness
6. Impeachment court lets corporate counsel testify for VP Sara Duterte
7. VP Sara corporate witness: Senate court limits her privilege claim

Editor’s note: This update was generated with the aid of artificial intelligence based on Inquirer.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer and Cebu Daily News articles and reviewed by a human editor.