THE House prosecution panel on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, announced it would no longer present two scheduled witnesses, Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief of staff Zuleika Lopez and House of Representatives security official Capt. Belinda Bello, saying their testimonies had become unnecessary in light of admissions made by the defense and evidence already presented before the Senate impeachment court.
Private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan made the manifestation on the fifth day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, saying the prosecution decided to streamline its presentation after assessing the testimony of its first two witnesses and the documentary evidence already admitted.
The first two witnesses were National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent Victor Calilung and NBI Bangsamoro Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc, former chief of the agency’s Cybercrime Division.
Both were involved in the investigation into Duterte over alleged grave threats and inciting to sedition stemming from her November 2024 press conference, during which she said she had instructed someone to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she herself were killed.
The NBI later recommended that the Department of Justice file charges of grave threats and inciting to sedition against Duterte, although no case has yet been filed in court.
“In the last four trial days, we have had several hours of legal calisthenics—direct examination, cross-examination, and today we also had redirect and recross,” Kapunan told the impeachment court.
After evaluating the evidence and the clarificatory questions raised by senator-judges, Kapunan said the prosecution concluded that presenting Lopez and Bello would be “unnecessary, redundant and a surplusage.”
Kapunan said Lopez had originally been scheduled to testify that she was present inside the House detention facility during Duterte’s Nov. 23, 2024 online press conference, that members of the media heard the Vice President’s remarks, and to authenticate the video recording of the event.
However, she said those facts had effectively been admitted by the defense.
Kapunan noted that defense counsel Mark Vinluan repeatedly acknowledged during the proceedings that the press conference took place and that Duterte made the statements in question, although the defense disputes the prosecution’s interpretation of them.
“Attorney Vinluan mentioned more than ten times that that press conference occurred and that the Vice President did utter the statements,” Kapunan said.
“Although Attorney Vinluan did say that it is a matter of interpretation,” she added.
Kapunan said the issue was further settled when the defense itself used portions of the same video during cross-examination, including clips showing Lopez’s emotional reaction to her detention.
She also said Bello’s testimony would only have corroborated the existence of a transfer order implemented at the House detention facility, an issue already sufficiently established by other evidence.
Criminal liability not at issue
Kapunan reminded the court that the impeachment proceedings are not meant to determine Duterte’s criminal liability but whether her actions constitute impeachable offenses.
“In my 48 years of practice as a private lawyer, I have learned two things in litigation. First, learn when to present and not to present a witness; and second, learn when to stop,” she said.
“And I think that should be our takeaway from this manifestation. We have decided from the evidence presented and from everything in consideration that we will not present these two witnesses,” she added.
Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian welcomed the move, saying it could significantly shorten the proceedings.
“I was just computing the number of witnesses. Based on our pretrial order, the prosecution will present 57 witnesses. The respondent will present 45 witnesses. That’s a total of 102 witnesses,” he said.
He noted that if each witness consumes about two trial days, the impeachment trial could last about 17 months.
“So any chance of shortening the proceedings will be highly appreciated. Thank you,” Gatchalian said. (TPM)