Camille Naredo

OVP Assistant Secretary and Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio, the second hostile witness, answers questions from private prosecutor Atty. Mae Divinagracia during the direct examination on the 18th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial at the Senate in Pasay City on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

OVP Assistant Secretary and Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio, the second hostile witness, answers questions from private prosecutor Atty. Mae Divinagracia during the direct examination on the 18th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial at the Senate in Pasay City on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. Ortonio is being questioned on matters related to his role and responsibilities at the Office of the Vice President (OVP), particularly on the use of confidential funds.  Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

VP Sara Impeachment

Katrina Domingo

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178767422488120260825-senate-impeachment-day18-MT18.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="OVP Assistant Secretary and Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio, the second hostile witness, answers questions from private prosecutor Atty. Mae Divinagracia during the direct examination on the 18th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial at the Senate in Pasay City on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">OVP Assistant Secretary and Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio, the second hostile witness, answers questions from private prosecutor Atty. Mae Divinagracia during the direct examination on the 18th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial at the Senate in Pasay City on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte is behind the alleged irregularities in her offices&#x27; use of confidential funds in 2022 and 2023, a member of the prosecution panel said Tuesday after Duterte&#x27;s lawyers asked the Senate impeachment court to strike such insinuations from the record.</p><p>“We just want to call a spade a spade. To us, it was a scam that was masterminded by the vice president,” counsel for prosecution Mae Divinagracia told reporters after the court adjourned for the day.</p><p>The lawyer did not expound on her statement but she said during trial that Duterte was the “architect and mastermind” of the alleged misuse of the Office of the Vice President’s confidential funds — among the allegations in the Articles of Impeachment against her.</p><p>Defense counsel Kristine Ferrer objected to the words, which she said were inappropriate.</p><p>“This is a court of law, a court of procedure, a court of decorum. We are not supposed to make insinuations, accusations or conclusions so we request the court to remind the prosecution,” she said.</p><p>Presiding Officer Francis Escudero agreed with Ferrer saying that the use of terms such as “mastermind,” “scam” and “modus operandi” and similar &quot;strong statements&quot; seems to be “becoming a habit” for the prosecution.</p><div><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/8/25/profile-who-is-prosecutor-mae-divinagracia-1346"><strong>PROFILE: Who is prosecutor Mae Divinagracia?<br/></strong></a></div><p>He then instructed the clerk of court to strike off Divinagracia’s choice of words from the official record.</p><p>But for Senator-Judge Alan Peter Cayetano, such statements may already have an effect even if these are removed from official transcripts.</p><p>“Even if you withdraw that… We know that’s for the cameras, not just for the court,” Cayetano said.</p><p>He said that &quot;certain words [that have] emotional attachment&quot; could go viral as he urged parties be more circumspect in their statements. </p><p>In court, Divinagracia apologized for getting “carried away” but underscored that the prosecution pnly wants to “call a spade a spade.”</p><p>“Henceforth, to borrow the words of my colleague, we will try to behave,” she said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;PART OF LAWYERING&#x27;</strong></div><p>Duterte’s camp said they would wait for the court’s ruling on sub judice issues on August 26 to see if these would be sufficient remedies to protect their client against damaging adjectives and statements.</p><p>“It&#x27;s part of lawyering in a way. But in this case, we just wanted to be very careful because we also want to protect the rights of our client,” said defense counsel and spokesperson Michael Poa.</p><p>“That will be the first thing on the agenda tomorrow so let&#x27;s just wait for that and see if the ruling can somehow fix that issue for us.”</p><div><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/8/25/ovp-confidential-funds-spend-in-11-days-for-obligations-from-previous-months-witness-1624"><strong>OVP confidential funds spent in 11 days for &#x27;obligations&#x27; from previous months — witness</strong></a></div>

<p>Vice President Sara Duterte is behind the alleged irregularities in her offices' use of confidential funds in 2022 and 2023, a member of the prosecution panel said Tuesday after Duterte's lawyers asked the Senate impeachment court to strike such insinuations from the record.</p>

Vice President Sara Duterte is behind the alleged irregularities in her offices' use of confidential funds in 2022 and 2023, a member of the prosecution panel said Tuesday after Duterte's lawyers asked the Senate impeachment court to strike such insinuations from the record.

Duterte ‘masterminded’ confidential fund ‘scam’, prosecution maintains after defense raises decorum issue

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Duterte ‘masterminded’ confidential fund ‘scam’, prosecution maintains after defense raises decorum issue

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 25, 2026 07:36 PM PHT

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Updated August 26, 2026 12:11 AM PHT

Read More:

Sara Duterte

Impeachment

Mae Divinagracia

Kristine Ferrer

Duterte impeachment

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