Sara Duterte impeachment trial Day 42: What to expect

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The Defense will present on Wednesday its fourth witness for Article II of the impeachment case, concerning allegations on Vice President Sara Duterte’s unexplained wealth.

Atty. Suzette Balucanag-Punay, the corporate counsel for Gencorp Industries, Inc. and Metro City Chow Foods Corporation — two of the entities linked to the Vice President — will be called to the witness stand this morning, according to defense lead counsel Sheila Sison.

Balucanag-Punay is set to testify on relevant corporate and business matters linked to Duterte and produce certified true copies and/or original copies of the General Information Sheets, Audited Financial Statements, and other related corporate records from 2022 to 2025.

She was supposed to testify on Monday, but was unable to attend the hearing due to a scheduled magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, according to House lead prosecutor and Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville Luistro.

Dropped witness

Sison also announced that the defense would no longer present Matina Crossing, Davao City Punong Barangay Cindy Colina in the impeachment trial.

Colina was supposed to be the fifth witness of the defense, and was lined up to testify for today.

During the trial on Tuesday, the defense lawyer asked the court to recall the subpoena issued for Colina, and excused her from attending the proceedings.

“This is of course without prejudice to any subsequent motion that we will make on the court’s taking judicial notice of the geographical divisions with respect to the subject barangay,” Sison said.

Colina was supposed to testify on matters relating to Matina Crossing and to identify and bring all documents related to its creation, official name, and other names upon which it is known whether by official acts, usage, or custom. — BAP/KG, GMA News