VICE President Sara Duterte’s defense team has decided not to present its last scheduled bank witness — Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Senior Vice President Paul Roderick Ysmael — during Thursday’s impeachment proceedings.
Defense counsel Michael Poa told the Senate Impeachment Court that Ysmael’s testimony was no longer necessary, since his only purpose was to authenticate a letter‑request that Poa himself had already acknowledged writing during earlier interpellation. “The only purpose for this witness was to authenticate my letter… and I have admitted in open court that I wrote that letter,” Poa explained, adding that the document had already been marked as a defense exhibit.
The move came after the defense had already dropped 15 other bank representatives from various financial institutions the previous day, leaving Ysmael as the sole remaining bank witness. He was expected to identify certified copies of the 2026 letter‑requests filed by the Vice President and her husband, Atty. Manases Carpio, through their law firm Himala and Virtucio.
Prosecution counsel James Bryan Ibrahim Alih raised concerns, however, noting that the documents Ysmael would have brought contained information the prosecution intended to question — specifically records related to alleged dollar accounts under Duterte’s name. “This becomes an issue for us now, Your Honor, because there would be some questions that we want to ask on the basis of those records,” Alih told the court.
Presiding Officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero confirmed the letter had already been entered into the record as Defense Exhibit D‑2‑190‑BPI, but allowed the prosecution to file a manifestation highlighting specific portions of the bank documents it wished to address. The defense’s decision to withdraw its bank witnesses entirely has drawn scrutiny, with some observing that the records — including a ₱16‑million manager’s check drawn from a joint Duterte‑Duterte account and payable to businessman Sammy Uy — remain part of the evidence presented by the prosecution earlier in the trial.
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