By Cliff Potts, Editor-in-Chief, WPS News
BAYBAY CITY, LEYTE, Philippines, July 10, 2026 — 1145 PHT

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The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte has not produced a verdict, a dramatic collapse, or a sudden stop order. The latest developments are more procedural, but they matter: the Senate impeachment court is moving from the opening fight over Duterte’s “kill remarks” toward records, subpoenas, witnesses, and the question of who can participate in the trial.

The biggest item now on the calendar is the fight over financial records. The Senate impeachment court has set oral arguments for next week on whether to issue subpoenas for bank and tax records connected to Duterte, her husband Manases Carpio, and related entities. Manila Bulletin reported that the oral arguments are set for Wednesday, July 15, on prosecution requests for subpoenas covering bank and tax records.

The Money Trail

That records fight could become one of the most important parts of the case. The trial opened with the easier-to-understand video evidence involving Duterte’s past remarks about President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. But the deeper corruption allegations require documents: tax records, bank records, business records, audit findings, and explanations for where money came from and where it went.

That does not mean the Senate will automatically grant the subpoenas. The defense will almost certainly argue privacy, relevance, overreach, and political fishing expedition. Prosecutors will argue that impeachment is about public trust and that the Senate must be allowed to examine financial records if unexplained wealth, bribery, misuse of public funds, or corruption are part of the articles.

Witnesses Next

The Senate impeachment court has also subpoenaed Duterte’s chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, in connection with the threats article. Inquirer reported that Week 1 ended with the court issuing a subpoena for Lopez, while ABS-CBN reported earlier that prosecutors had asked the impeachment court to summon Lopez and NBI officials as witnesses.

That keeps Article IV — the alleged threats and assassination-plot article — alive while the records fight develops. Prosecutors appear to be building the case in two tracks: first, Duterte’s public statements and whether they amount to impeachable conduct; second, the financial allegations that could require a longer paper trail.

The “Assassin” Argument

Another fight is over how much the prosecution has to prove and what kind of proof impeachment requires. Philstar reported that House prosecutors pushed back against the Duterte camp’s demand that they produce the alleged assassin, arguing that impeachment is not a criminal trial and does not require proof beyond reasonable doubt in the same way a criminal prosecution would.

That is a key distinction. The Senate is not deciding whether Duterte goes to prison. It is deciding whether she should be removed from office and possibly barred from holding public office. That lowers the courtroom-style burden, but it raises the political burden: the process still has to look fair enough that the public accepts the result.

Estrada Stays Out

The other major update involves detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada. The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division denied Estrada’s request to attend Duterte’s impeachment trial, ruling that the request had no merit. GMA reported that the court said impeachment is constitutionally important but does not, by itself, justify temporary leave from detention. The court also noted that the trial could span 31 weeks and said allowing Estrada to attend would undermine the purpose of preventive detention.

That matters because every senator-judge counts. Conviction requires 16 votes out of 24 senators, so absences, detentions, recusals, and legal side cases are not background noise. They are part of the math.

Where It Stands

The short version is this: the trial is still moving, the Senate has not been stopped, and the next major turn is the July 15 argument over financial records. The prosecution is trying to widen the case from video evidence to documents and witnesses. The defense is trying to frame the case as overreach, political persecution, and an abuse of impeachment.

This still looks like both things at once: a real accountability proceeding with serious allegations, and a brutal political war between the Marcos and Duterte camps. The next test is whether the Senate can make the records fight look like a search for truth instead of a fishing expedition.

APA-Style Source List:

ABS-CBN News. (2026, July 7). Prosecution asks impeachment court to summon Duterte aide, NBI chief.

GMA News Online. (2026, July 10). Jinggoy Estrada’s request to attend Sara Duterte impeachment trial junked.

Inquirer.net. (2026, July 8). Sara aide subpoenaed as Week 1 of impeachment trial ends.

Manila Bulletin. (2026, July 9). Crucial court issue: Oral arguments on VP Duterte’s bank, tax record subpoenas set.

Philstar.com. (2026, July 9). Impeachment is not a criminal trial — House prosecution.

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